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Author: Anchee Min
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 9/10
It is such a page turner! Proof of point: I finished the book in a week (6 hours of reading maybe?). I read the sequel "The Last Empress" first and was compelled to purchase this book.
The story is written in the first point of view, of Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi herself, known as Lady Yenohala or Empress Orchid before her son rose to the Qing Dynasty's throne. It depicts her days of entering the Forbidden City to be selected as an Imperial Concubine to being selected for Emperor Hsien Feng's bed to invasion of China by the British to becoming an Empress Dowager.
So the world (and many Chinese culture, i.e. movies, books) had depicted her as a shrewd evil woman. If you read "The Last Empress" and this book, you cannot help but be on her side and start questioning what the world thinks of her.
It is however a fiction and the writer Min disclaimed that the accounts are written based on his perspective through research of old documents, edicts, decrees and poems. Upon reading both the books, I went to Wiki the story of her again and again. It certainly gained me extra knowledge and superb entertainment value. Thumbs up writer Min!!
The story is written in the first point of view, of Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi herself, known as Lady Yenohala or Empress Orchid before her son rose to the Qing Dynasty's throne. It depicts her days of entering the Forbidden City to be selected as an Imperial Concubine to being selected for Emperor Hsien Feng's bed to invasion of China by the British to becoming an Empress Dowager.
So the world (and many Chinese culture, i.e. movies, books) had depicted her as a shrewd evil woman. If you read "The Last Empress" and this book, you cannot help but be on her side and start questioning what the world thinks of her.
It is however a fiction and the writer Min disclaimed that the accounts are written based on his perspective through research of old documents, edicts, decrees and poems. Upon reading both the books, I went to Wiki the story of her again and again. It certainly gained me extra knowledge and superb entertainment value. Thumbs up writer Min!!
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