Description
The story of the infamous last empress of China, by the author of the best-selling Becoming Madame Mao. It is the final days of the Chinese empire. Trade in opium with Europe is slowly corroding the power of the Ch’ing Dynasty. Orchid, a beautiful seventeen-year-old from an aristocratic but impoverished family, is pushed into the maelstrom when she finds herself unexpectedly chosen to become a low-ranking concubine of the emperor.
The Empress Orchid is the story of a fascinating, strong-willed woman who for generations has been vilified as a grand seductress and murder. Anchee Min draws a vivid portrait of a flawed yet utterly compelling woman and, through her life, of the world of the Chinese court and political lives of the royal concubines. Richly detailed and completely gripping, this is a novel of high drama and lyricism.
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