A moving autobiography of a young woman who is forced to become an indentured servant at the age of 6 -- first as a nursemaid and farm labourer and then as a geisha. Masuda describes her experience with anger and despair, and it is a very moving and detailed account. What is also very noticeable in her writing is her own empathy, especially for children, and her wish that other children will not suffer as she did. This is both a moving and personal book and a desperate plea for social change.

I also think it is important to read this book before reading novels which glamorise or fetishize the life of the geisha.