I tried to continue, but somehow my throat made up its mind to swallow – though I can’t think what I was swallowing, unless it was a little knot of emotion I pushed back down because there was no room in my face for any more.

I don't like things held up before me that I cannot have.

Water is powerful. It can wash away earth, put out fire, and even destroy iron.

We don't become geisha because we want our lives to be happy; we become geisha because we have no choice.

My feelings of disgust had been so loud within me, they’d nearly drowned out everything else.

Yet somehow the thing that startled me most, after a week or two had passed, was that I had in fact survived.

I don't think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it.