Memoirs of a Geisha
A love story told through decades of waiting. Sayuri's love for the Chairman is the organizing principle of her entire life, and Golden renders the world of Kyoto geisha with extraordinary sensory precision. The romance operates on the level of symbol and longing as much as action; when it arrives, it carries the weight of a life's devotion.
Golden's main source sued him after publication, saying he distorted what she told him, particularly the sale of virginity the plot turns on. That alone deserves a footnote in every copy. There's also the romance itself: Sayuri fixes her life on a middle-aged man she met as a twelve-year-old, and the novel calls that devotion rather than what it resembles.
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
