"Endlessly fascinating...a narrative that is both gripping and beautifully paced...a wonderful read" (Observer)
"This is one of those rare novels that evokes a vanished world with absolute conviction and in every detail...This book is exceptional" (Daily Mail)
"Sayuri's memoirs reveal Golden to have great gifts of imaginative empathy...fascinating" (Independent)
"A truly engrossing story. The reader suffers, triumphs, dreams and doubts with the heroine, all the way through...These memoirs are beautifully written" (Sunday Express)
"A high-wire act... Rarely has a world so closed and foreign been evoked with such natural assurance" (New Yorker)