Viciously maligned by the western press of the time as the 'Dragon Lady,' a manipulative, blood-thirsty woman who held onto power at all costs, the woman Min gives us is a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly, and who sacrificed all she had to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die. EMPRESS ORCHID by Anchee Min Whitehead continues the African-American artists inquiry into race mythology and history with rousing audacity and.

Anchee Min offers a powerful revisionist portrait based on extensive research of one of the most important figures in Chinese history. Meanwhile the Emperor Hsien Feng decrees that he seeks a wife who must have royal blood so that the offspring are purebred Manchu. Yearning only to step aside, and yet growing constantly into her role, only sheallied with the progressives, but loyal to the conservative Manchu clan of her dynastycan hold the nations rival factions together. ISBN: 0618068872 In the middle of the nineteenth century, seventeen years old Orchid accompanies her aristocratic clan to Beijing to inter her deceased father. is over-loaded with so much detail that fans who appreciate intrinsic depth into a bygone era will want to read the EMPRESS ORCHID. Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Empress Orchid Houghton Mifflin, Feb 2004, 24.00, 336 pp. Anchee Min Booklist Anchee Min Message Board. Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid must face not only the perilous condition of her empire but also a series of devastating personal losses, as first her son and then her adopted son succumb to early death. Empress Orchid Book Summary and Study Guide.

The Last Empress is the story of Orchids dramatic transition from a strong-willed, instinctive young woman to a wise and politically savvy leader who ruled China for more than four decades.

The only constant during this tumultuous time was the power wielded by one person, the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, Lady Yehonala - or Empress Orchid, as readers came to know her in Anchee Mins critically acclaimed novel covering the first part of her life. Back cover has crease on lower left side = Synopsis: The last decades of the nineteenth century were a violent period in Chinas history marked by humiliating foreign incursions and domestic rebellion, ultimately ending in the demise of the Ching dynasty.

Empress orchid book