Start by marking “Empress Orchid” as Want to Read: Error rating book. I picked it up on a whim as I was looking for a different book on the shelves of my library and my intuition was spot on that I would like it. Cixi, the last empress of China from 1856 to 1908, is one of those historical figures people love to be nasty about. Tzu Hsi) is not your usual 19th century Chinese woman. Hsien Feng disintegrates under the nervous strain, forcing Cixi to educate herself in government. From a master of the historical novel, Empress Orchid sweeps readers into the heart of the Forbidden City to tell the fascinating story of a young concubine who becomes China's last empress. The Empress was a real person; however, what happened during these times of her life may or may not have happened. Miraculously, Orchid is chosen.
She meets plenty of male characters and talks to them face to face but cannot let the doctor lay eyes on her. Though intriguing, it progressed too slowly to stay interested. Julia Lovell enjoys a fascinating peek into the intrigues of the Forbidden City in Anchee Min's Empress Orchid. I will buy and read "The Last Empress" next that continues this story. Narrated by the Empress, called Orchid because of her beauty, the story begins as Orchid, a member of an aristocratic clan related to the ruling Manchus, accompanies her family to Beijing to bury her recently deceased father. We’d love your help. ‧ “The sun doesn't just hang on one family's tree”, “I was happy not to be in his place. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. All this is expertly paced, unfurling before the book is half finished; a reader can guess what is coming. Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2020.
puts a brake on what should be a riveting tale—the ascent to power of China’s last Empress—in a court where beheadings are as frequent as concubines are numerous. Brit Bennett. Bennett keeps all these plot threads thrumming and her social commentary crisp. The Forbidden City where the Emperor and his wives, concubines and eunuchs lived has always been of interest to me. And Orchid (a.k.a.
He was a prisoner of himself.”. Gave up on 44% . But then, what kind of power was his? The Russians accuse her of collaborating—they also think she might be a spy—and send her to the Vorkuta Gulag in Siberia. I fact checked historical events and was very pleased at the accuracy plus the author used fiction making me feel like I was actually there as a passive viewer. Note to self: You have read this book. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2016.
It's high time we began taking interest in a bit more of one of the world's longest continuous civilisations. The story continues in The Last Empress (, I really wanted to love this book. The many and vivid details of court life—custom, costume and culture of late 1800s China—undercut her efforts to give a more balanced portrait of a woman who has often been vilified for her role in the decline of Chinese power. This novel is told as the first person account of China's infamous "Dowager Empress," Tzu Hsi aka Red Orchid, who came to the Forbidden City as one of the Emperor's brides when she was seventeen in 1853. I loved the author's autobiography (RED AZELEA) and her novel (KATHERINE)about a foreign English teacher in China, so I expected EMPRESS ORCHID to bring together her amazing talent for prose narrative in English, enhanced with her first-hand research of Chinese sources, to bring to life the mis-judged history of Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi. [return][return]The best part of Empress Orchid is the list of 5 tone-setting quotations from other sources in the facing page prior to the map (unnumbered pages). But now that we have both the knives-out and revisionist versions of Cixi's life, maybe non-academic English-speaking authors could find someone else from the Chinese past to write about. Desiree, the “fidgety twin,” and Stella, “a smart, careful girl,” make their break from stultifying rural Mallard, Louisiana, becoming 16-year-old runaways in 1954 New Orleans.
I am not a history novel read but when I entered a book club that suggested reading this one I chose to give it a try. In the second half, Jude spars with her cousin Kennedy, Stella's daughter, a spoiled actress. Empress Orchid delivers a fictional peek into the intrigues of the Forbidden City and a novel take on the much reviled last empress. Western fascination with Cixi springs from the west's fascination with itself: she appeals primarily because her rule coincided with western invasion of China - the opium wars, the unequal treaties, the sacking of Beijing. Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number). As the emperor approaches death, Cixi has to fight to avoid being entombed with her husband, is hurled at a pillar by an enemy eunuch, and narrowly escapes assassination. The book was in great condition, but I wouldn't recommend this for reading. All Rights Reserved. HISTORICAL FICTION, by I am unsure of the historical accuracy, but I grew confused about one thing in particular. by Hikmah. The book does a good job of letting us into the world of obscene luxury and waste, the dullness of waiting, the fear of rejection, and undoubtedly Orchid was a remarkable woman who used the resources she had to save her own skin and do the best for her son in a treacherous Imperial court, but in the end I didn't really care that much what happened to her and longed for the book to be over.
I can't say exactly whether this book is a work of fiction or a biography. The story of the Dowager Empress of China. In a nutshell, Empress Orchid … Anchee Min. In this follow-up to the widely read The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2018), a young concentration camp survivor is sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor in a Russian gulag. You can still see all customer reviews for the product. I give it 3 ½ stars, which is not bad but I thought it was going to be a 4 to 5 star book. You will appreciate Orchid’s agonies, triumphs, tragedies, and heartaches. Thus neglected, she is left to contemplate the life choices open to imperial concu bines: allow yourself to be forgotten and grow old torturing coital moths (a traditional concubine amusement), or try to win the emperor's favour, risking assassination by rivals or, worse, mutilation by mother-in-law. Trouble signing in? Though gripping, even moving at times, the novel doesn’t do justice to the solemn history from which it is drawn. I just don't think this author did her research fully on this novel, given what I already know about ancient China. When the Emperor dies, and names Orchid's son as heir, the two Empresses take over as regents, and a battle for power ensues with Su Shun - the Emperor's right-hand man. | Which, with some scheming, she manages to do, but China in the early 1860s is beset with problems. Categories: What I enjoy the most about Empress Orchid, and Anchee Min’s writing in general, is her skill at description. I can't say exactly whether this book is a work of fiction or a biography. One of these quotes is from Sterling Seagrave from his book DRAGON LADY: THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF THE LAST EMPRESS OF CHINA, which refers to the fact that in 1974 most of the previously trusted scholarship on Tzu Hsi had been revealed as counterfeit. This is the ultimate nightmare of the Forbidden City. The story is extremely well written; the characters were compelling, the historical references are well introduced into the story and never weigh the plot down, and the storyline was exciting - I couldn’t put it down. If Orchid is sent home, rather than being kept in the palace after being formally declared a virgin, she could lose that virginity and even conceive a child that was not the Emperor's. Brit Bennett