Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden & Recipe by Samantha Smith
The Author
The Author of Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden, is an American writer born in Tennessee in 1956.
Arthur comes from writing stock, with his grandfather the famous New York Times publisher and owner of the New York Times.
When his parent divorced, he was eight years old, his mother died five years after that.
Going to school in Tennessee, he spent the middle part of his school years at a boy’s school, graduating in 1974.
Moving on to Harvard, Arthur completed his degree in art history specialising in Japanese art.
Japanese history was a theme in his studies with a M.A in Japanese history from Columbia where he also learned Mandarin.
Staying with the Chinese theme, golden spent a summer working at Peking university before returning to America for more study, this time an M.A. in English from Boston University.
While abroad, he met a young man whose mother was a geisha and this is where the seed for Memoirs of a Geisha was formed.
With only the one book written, Arthur Golden spent 6 years making sure the book was the one he wanted to send into the world.
He made three complete re-writes looking for the perfect perspective, eventually settling on Sayuri's perspective after research and interviews with geishas, famous and not.
After the book was released in Japan, one ex-geisha, Mineko Iwasaki, sued Golden when she thought her anonymity had been breached. The case was settled out of court.
Married with two children, Arthur Golden lives in Massachusetts.
Arthur Golden
Book
When Memoires of a Geisha was released in 1997, it spent two years on the New York bestseller list.
Translated into thirty-two languages it sold more than 4 million copies in English, and was made into a film.
Memoires of a Geisha is a historical fictional novel telling the story of Nitta Sayuri as she grows to be one of the best geishas of her time.
In 1929, Nitta is sold, along with her sister.
She is taken to a geisha boarding house but her sister isn’t so lucky and ends up in a low-class brothel.
As Nitta grows, she is tormented by an established geisha, the highest earner in the okiya, who seeing the potential in her, goes out of her way to make her life hell.
As a child, while out, she is given money wrapped in a handkerchief, by a man known as The Chairman. It’s this encounter which drives her to work towards becoming a geisha.
Becoming an apprentice geisha, she gains popularity until there is a bidding war for her mizuage.
Using the money to pay off her debts, the mother of the okiya adopts her making her the number one geisha of that house.
With the onset of the war, the need for geishas is diminished, and the geisha district is closed.
Getting help from a friend, she moves north to live and work for the duration of the war.
When war ends and the economy begin to grow, she agrees a plan to help The Chairman.
Confessing that she has always loved him, she retires and relocates with The Chairman, to New York where she opens a tea house entertaining Japanese business man.
A great cover for Memoirs of a Geisha.
My Thoughts
I re-visited this book after first reading it the year it was released. I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it this time too.
It’s certainly a saga of a read, spanning decades and generations, but it’s an easy reading too.
Each character is full and well-rounded with their own history that helps build their story throughout the book.
The Chairman runs through all of the book, unconsciously steering the story without knowledge of his impact.
Would the story have been different if he had been more open with Nitta, Or would her determination to be someone have still driven her to fulfil her ‘destiny’.?
I do like a happy ending, and I’m sure that NItta deserved it, but I’ve always felt that the ending was a little too tidy, tied up with a bow, with the characters moving to America.
I’d definitely recommend this book to others and will one day set to reading it again myself, so I’m going to give it a 4 egg rating.
4 Egg Rating
The Chef
When I reached out to Samantha Smith to ask if she would help Foodie Book Club out by gifting a recipe, she immediately said yes.
I love this picture of Samantha Smith
Not only an immediate Yes, Sam was really enthusiastic to help out our small Foodie Book Club Community and understood the help we try to make to the people in our community.
The following is Sam in her own words, and her own recipe for one of her the most amazing bakes:
Please find attached a recipe for gluten free, low sugar apple tarts following our message exchange on Instagram. I thought the recipe would be fitting for apple season!
BIO: Sam Smith is a home baker who found a love of cooking and baking from an early age. In 2022, she appeared on the BBC One show: ‘The Queen’s Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Baking’ where her Jubilee Bundt cake landed her a place in the final five of a nationwide competition run by Fortnum and Mason to find a recipe to celebrate the late Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Sam is a type one diabetic who has recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease and loves experimenting with low sugar, gluten free bakes and recipes. She is passionate about raising awareness of both chronic illnesses and making those living with either autoimmune disease know they are not alone in their struggles.
Let me know if you need anything else :)
Find Sam on Instagram here and Facebook here
Small pies of deliciousness
Recipe
This recipe Makes 12 deep dish tarts
Ingredients
Pastry
125g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
1tsp Xanthum Gum
60g Butter or Lard
Apple Filling
6 x Small Braeburn Apples Any apple variety will do)
Decoration
2 x Gluten Free Spiced/Ginger Biscuits
1 x Egg
1 x tbsp Milk
Pastry
Rub together the butter, flour and xanthum gum until the mix resembles breadcrumbs - be careful not to overwork the pastry, if the mix is well combined, stop rubbing!
Use water (add a little at a time!) to bring the mix together to form a ball.
Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Once chilled remove from the fridge and roll out to around 2mm thick.
Use a large round cutter to create the tart bases (measure your tin and always size up to make sure your bases fit easily!)
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Filling
Peel and slice the apples and place them in a saucepan with two tablespoons of boiling water.
Stew them over a medium heat until soft.
Assembly
Use a 12-hole deep cupcake or muffin tin and place one tart base in each hole.
Use a tablespoon to evenly distribute your stewed apples between the tarts.
Crumble the spiced biscuits with your fingers and then place a little on the top of each tart.
Whisk the egg and milk with a fork and gently brush the top of the tarts.
Cook in the over for 20-25 mins until golden brown.
