Product Description

At the end of the nineteenth century, China is rocked by humiliating foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid. Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid makes a dramatic metamorphosis from a strong-willed young woman to a wise political leader, who must not only face the perilous condition of her fading empire but also a series of devastating personal losses. Yearning to step aside yet growing constantly into her role, only she can hold the nation's rival factions together. In this sequel to the bestselling novel "Empress Orchid", Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who assumes power reluctantly, and who sacrifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29875 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
PRAISE FOR EMPRESS ORCHID:'A wild, passionate, fearless American writer' New York Times 'Empress Orchid is strong on both sexual chicanery and violent conspiracy a fascinating account' Guardian 'An engrossing story enhanced by Min's imaginative power Like all good novelists, she implies as much as she says, and her characterisation is subtle and worldly-wise' Glasgow Herald 'I loved Empress Orchid a riveting read' Judy Finnegan, Woman's Own

In this sequel to her historical novel Empress Orchid (2004), Min tells the story of late-19th-century China's crumbling empire, from the point of view of the country's much-vilified final empress.Two years after the death of Orchid's husband, she and his "first wife," Nuharoo, are sharing the upbringing of the new Emperor, Orchid's seven-year-old son Tung Chih, and acting as ruling co-regents until he grows up. Orchid is overseeing a nation heavily in debt and slowly losing control of its provinces to western nations and Japan. Orchid is selflessly devoted to governing China. She does not allow herself a relationship with the one man she genuinely loves, focusing instead on preparing Tung Chih for his responsibilities with a single-mindedness that undermines the typical mother-son relationship. When Tung Chih, who hates his duties, dies in his 20s of a venereal disease, Orchid adopts her sister's three-year-old son Guang-hsu and makes him emperor. Although Orchid loves Guang-hsu, her sense of political responsibility again overrides maternal feelings. The sensitive, sweet little boy grows into an indecisive, insecure ruler. Although recognizing the mistakes Guang-hsu and his advisors are making, Orchid often goes along in order to keep his sense of authority intact. By the time of the Boxer Rebellion, she has lost control over her ministers, even while she is being vilified in the Western press as the "Dragon Lady." She wants reform and feels camaraderie with Robert Hart, who keeps China financially afloat for decades. But most of all, she wants to keep China unified, a goal that proves impossible.The great swatches of historical detail will enlighten readers who generally view history from a Western perspective, but with Orchid so busy explaining herself, the human story of a woman who denies her instincts never quite emerges. (Kirkus Reviews)

Glasgow Herald
`Like all good novelists, she implies as much as she says, and her
characterisation is subtle and worldly-wise'

The Times
`Tzu Hsi emerges as a canny political leader, and she is a vivid and entertaining character - this is history as it plays upon the emotions. Empires crumble, hearts are broken'

Customer Reviews

Difficult to engage with
In 'Empress Orchid', Orchid herself was a young woman - naive, impressionable, and with good intentions. Min portrayed her protagonist's desperation very well, and in that novel Orchid's methods of surviving in the Forbidden City were justified - she was dealing with a hostile court, a weak husband, and a spoiled son.

But in 'The Last Empress', things go a little downhill. While Orchid was a layered and difficult character in the first book, she came across as being genuinely good at heart - in this novel, however, she is incredibly difficult to empathise with.

The main problem is the children. Orchid raises several young boys as heir to the Dragon Throne during this novel, and none of them are any good at it. They all end up being miserable, selfish or weak (sometimes all three), and each time she realises she has failed once again, Orchid - now ruling the country of China - protests that she doesn't know where she went wrong. She complains to the now-uncaring reader, and you begin to lose patience with a woman whose common sense is clearly lacking when it comes to raising children. She switches from being indulgent to suddenly taking a harsher line, by which time the damage is done.

The saving grace of the novel is its' adroit following of the political situation in China during Orchid's time as Empress - the situation is described in detail, and I learned a lot about Chinese history from the book. In that sense, it's reccomended. Unfortunately, however, you have to put up with the now less-than-likeable character of the narrator and her saga of failed upbringings to get the historical benefit.

If you want a history of pre-war China, I would reccomend this book - as long as you can skip the irritating character-driven sections.

Goodbye To All That
Fascinating subject but clunkily written and ponderously repetitive. Nothing flows - the dialogue is glitchy and unreal and the narrative constantly repeats the same thoughts. Perhaps the Empress was incapable of original thought but her life was actually a lot more interesting than found here. I THINK the reader is supposed to empathise with the subject but there is neither sufficient character nor depth of background to make this Empress real. She just plods on, thinking the same old things, doing the same old things, little benefitting China. In the end, you don't care but worth looking up the Empress in the Britannica.

Another masterpiece from Anchee Min!
It's been a few years since I first read Anchee Min's first book on the life of China's Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi which blew me away.
I wasn't even aware that Anchee Min was even working on a second and final instalment of Tz'u-Hsi's life until i was browsing the isles of WHSmiths and came across "The last empress".

I quickly ordered the book from Amazon (much cheeper) and waited impatiently for its arrival.

As soon as "The last empress" arrived I dives straight in and was not dissapointed!

Anchee Min has created another masterpiece which is a must for anybody interested in Tz'u-Hsi, the Manchu dynasty, China or a great story made all the more amazing because it's a true story.

"The last empress" encompasses the later stages of Tz'u-Hsi's life and what are esentially the last years of the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty's rule in China.

In the west, the east and even in China itself Tz'u-Hsi has been demonised as "the dragon lady" an evil despot desperate to keep power and China in her hands.

It's wonderfull that Anchee Min has dared to think outside the box and portray Tz'u-Hsi as what she really was, the daughter of an impoverished and disgraced provincial governer who entered the forbidden city as a concubine and left in death as Empress Dowager.

All through the book we see how Tz'u-Hsi fought to save China from the "civilised" west and Japan who systematicaly "raped" China and forced unfair and embarassing treaty after treaty first on Tz'u-Hsi's husband, then her son and finally her nephew (and addopted son).

It disgusted me how the west and Japan took advantage ofChina which didn't want to fight and when it came to the point that they had to were no match for the Iron ships and guns of the west and Japan.

Overall I give this book five stars because I can't give it six.
This book is a masterpiece and along with "Empress Orchid" will hopefully dispell peoples perceptions of Tz'u-Hsi as the evil and tyranical woman who brought the Chinese empire to its knees with her greed and lust for power.

The truth is that the western nations and the newly "modernised" Japanese brought China to its knees and it was only Tz'u-Hsi's strength of character and determination that kept the empire from falling sooner.

In my view Anchee Min has created a lasting and fitting legacy that will in time help to exhonerate the name of possibly the greatest woman China has ever produced, The Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi.