Have you ever read any historical fiction? They're books with settings that occurred in the past.
Yes- Two of my favorite books are historical fiction! Memoirs of a Geisha and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. 
I haven't read "Memoirs of a Geisha" but I heard it had to do with a woman who wasn't very attractive and ended up being forced into prostitution.
No, it was about a girl who was beautiful, grew up very poor and ended up as a geisha. Geisha's aren't the same as prostitutes. Have you read any historical fiction? 
I used to read a lot of historical romance novels. But I found them to be inaccurate and inauthentic. I hear that's a common criticism of historical fiction