Product Description

To rescue her family from poverty and avoid marrying her slope-shouldered cousin, seventeen-year-old Orchid competes to be one of the Emperor's wives. When she is chosen as a lower-ranking concubine she enters the erotically charged and ritualised Forbidden City. But beneath its immaculate facade lie whispers of murders and ghosts, and the thousands of concubines will stoop to any lengths to bear the Emperor's son. Orchid trains herself in the art of pleasuring a man, bribes her way into the royal bed, and seduces the monarch, drawing the attention of dangerous foes. Little does she know that China will collapse around her, and that she will be its last Empress.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4746 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'Empress Orchid is strong on both sexual chicanery and violent conspiracy a fascinating account' Guardian 'A wild, passionate, fearless American writer' New York Times '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 'Rich in detail and historical background, the novel drenches readers in the colours, textures and affluence of the Forbidden City a stirring, exotic novel that is a treat for the senses and the intellect alike' Los Angeles Times

New York Times
‘A wild, passionate, fearless American writer’

Glasgow Herald
‘Engrossing ... enhanced by Min’s imaginative power ... Like all good novelists, she implies as much as she says’

Customer Reviews

Fascinating view of a declining China
Empress Orchid tells the tale of the early life of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last empress of China. She is a controversial figure, often blamed for the downfall of the Qing dynasty and Imperial China. It is somewhat accepted now that she may not have been as despotic as comtemporary press made her out to be, but she was definitely of a conservative and nationalistic political stance. Anchee Min's dramatisation of her early life is largely sympathetic and somewhat romantic.

Orchid enters the Forbidden City at a long age, having been selected through open competition to be a concubine and wife to the Emperor Hsien Feng. Her early time in the compound are filled with loneliness and desolation as she remains unselected for the Imperial bed. She begins to play the system, resulting in becoming a favourite of the emperor, bearing him a male heir, and gaining exposure to the political and foreign pressures faced by the emperor.

The book follows Orchid's life as the health of both the emperor and China itself decline. Orchid is forced to come into a more open role in order to secure the future of her son. We are treated to glimpses of a sympathetic, yet driven and manipulative character. Upon finishing the book, you aren't too sure who Orchid really was, whether she was truly a person capable of manouvers, or whether life in the Forbidden city had turned her into such a person.

This is an excellently colourful book, packed with descriptions of the costumes and courts of the era. However, it also captures the sense of decline and confusion that must have been rampant in the China of the time.

Engrossing and insightful book
I had bought this to read on holiday, but decided to begin reading early and was completely hooked, and ended up buying the sequel to take with me too! I had an interest in Far Eastern history, but this book led me to research it even more. The accuracy and storylines based around life in and out the Forbidden City, especially the portrayal of eunuchs and the lives of concubines, means I would definitely recommend this book, even if you have no prior interest in the topic at hand.

A must...For anyone.
An amazing book by such a strong woman, I picked this book up and didn't put it down, I wept, laughed and felt so much for the charatcers in this book, it started my fascination with this time period and culture, and also the incredible Anchee Min- I must recommend that everyone watch the interview on youtube with Anchee Min, and must recommend this:Red Azalea amazing...I love Empress Orchid so much, and the follow on is pretty spell binding too.