Butterfly

After the American Civil War, a young man from Maine takes a diplomatic position in Nagasaki, Japan, where he and his aide befriend the geisha Cio-Cio and attend her wedding to Pinkerton. When they discover the marriage is a sham, devastating consequences ensue.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 28 April 2023
Publisher: Book Guild Publishing Ltd

After the American Civil War, a young man from Maine takes a diplomatic position in Nagasaki, Japan, where he and his aide, Harada, explore the city and absorb its history and culture. There, they befriend the lovely geisha Cio-Cio and attend her wedding to the American naval lieutenant Pinkerton. When they discover the marriage is nothing but an empty sham, devastating consequences inexorably follow.

Cio-Cio, a young Japanese woman, is sold into the geisha district at a young age. She is trained in the art of entertaining men and becomes skilled in the traditional Japanese dance, the oshiroi. However, she is also subjected to the strict rules and customs of the geisha world, which limit her freedom and autonomy.

One day, Cio-Cio meets Pinkerton, an American naval lieutenant stationed in Japan. They fall in love, and Pinkerton promises to return to Cio-Cio after his deployment. However, when Pinkerton returns to the United States, he breaks his promise and marries another woman. Cio-Cio is devastated and feels betrayed by Pinkerton.

As time passes, Cio-Cio becomes more and more isolated from the world around her. She is confined to the geisha district, where she is expected to entertain men and provide pleasure to them. She longs for freedom and the opportunity to pursue her dreams, but the geisha world holds her captive.

One day, Cio-Cio is introduced to a wealthy Japanese businessman named Yamato. Yamato falls in love with Cio-Cio and offers to help her escape the geisha world. He arranges for Cio-Cio to travel to the United States, where she can pursue her education and become a writer.

Cio-Cio is overjoyed at the opportunity to escape the geisha world and start a new life. She travels to the United States with Yamato, where she attends school and learns English. She also meets a young American man named Charlie, who falls in love with her and helps her to adapt to her new life.

However, Cio-Cio's journey to the United States is not without its challenges. She faces discrimination and prejudice from many people, who view her as an exotic and foreign object. She also struggles to adapt to the cultural differences between Japan and the United States, and her past as a geisha continues to haunt her.

Despite these challenges, Cio-Cio perseveres and becomes a successful writer. She uses her experiences as a geisha to write a novel that explores the complexities of the Japanese culture and the struggles of women in a male-dominated society. Her novel becomes a bestseller and helps to raise awareness about the geisha world and the issues that women face in Japan.

In the end, Butterfly is a powerful and moving story that explores the themes of love, betrayal, and the pursuit of freedom. It is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of the human heart to overcome adversity.

Weight: 340g
Dimension: 138 x 216 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781915603500