Description

Book Synopsis

'Irrefutable and beautiful' New York Times
'Only Kiyoko Murata can convey this world' YOKO OGAWA, author of The Memory Police, Yomiuri Shibun

The year is 1903, and tenacious and spirited Aoi Ichi is sold to the most exclusive brothel in Kumamoto, Japan, becoming the protégée of Shinonome, the oiran, or the highest-ranking courtesan.

Through Shinonome's teachings, fifteen-year-old Ichi begins to understand the intertwined power of sex and money. Education for a courtesan extends beyond the art of seduction, and as Ichi is taught to read and write she develops a voice that refuses to be dampened by the brothel's rigid hierarchy.

Outside the cloistered world of the red-light district, rumours of local worker strikes grow, and as the seasons change in Kumamoto, Ichi, Shinonome and their fellow courtesans begin to wonder how they might redistribute the power and wealth of the brothels among themselves.<

A Woman of Pleasure

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    A Paperback by Kiyoko Murata

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      Publisher: Footnote Press Ltd
      Publication Date: 1/7/2024
      ISBN13: 9781804440889, 978-1804440889
      ISBN10: 1804440884
      Also in:
      Historical Fiction

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      'Irrefutable and beautiful' New York Times
      'Only Kiyoko Murata can convey this world' YOKO OGAWA, author of The Memory Police, Yomiuri Shibun

      The year is 1903, and tenacious and spirited Aoi Ichi is sold to the most exclusive brothel in Kumamoto, Japan, becoming the protégée of Shinonome, the oiran, or the highest-ranking courtesan.

      Through Shinonome's teachings, fifteen-year-old Ichi begins to understand the intertwined power of sex and money. Education for a courtesan extends beyond the art of seduction, and as Ichi is taught to read and write she develops a voice that refuses to be dampened by the brothel's rigid hierarchy.

      Outside the cloistered world of the red-light district, rumours of local worker strikes grow, and as the seasons change in Kumamoto, Ichi, Shinonome and their fellow courtesans begin to wonder how they might redistribute the power and wealth of the brothels among themselves.<

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