How honest and true a picture can an American man paint on the world of a geisha? Not much, in my opinion.
True, until the second world war starts, the book's a pretty nice window into that hidden world (as much as Golden's resources allowed him to know) but beyond that this book becomes another piece of American romantic kitsch trash as everything the main character ever wanted becomes reality and she moves to the mighty and wonderful America, to the country who flattened two of her nation's cities with atomic bombs. Reading and learning a little about the Japanese on my own, I tend to think she'd have too much pride to do something like that.
Written in an OK style, not a work of art that's for sure. I don't recommend this book unless sticky romance novels are your taste.