Specify Books During Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid #1)
| Original Title: | Empress Orchid |
| ISBN: | 0618562036 (ISBN13: 9780618562039) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Empress Orchid #1 |
| Characters: | Tzu Hsi, Emperor Hsien Feng, Prince Kung |
| Setting: | The Forbidden City(China) Beijing(China) China |
Anchee Min
Paperback | Pages: 368 pages Rating: 3.88 | 21566 Users | 1304 Reviews
Narrative In Pursuance Of Books Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid #1)
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 façade 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.
Itemize Containing Books Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid #1)
| Title | : | Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid #1) |
| Author | : | Anchee Min |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 368 pages |
| Published | : | April 11th 2005 by Mariner Books (first published 2003) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. China. Asia. Literature. Asian Literature. Romance |
Rating Containing Books Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid #1)
Ratings: 3.88 From 21566 Users | 1304 ReviewsWeigh Up Containing Books Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid #1)
This book intrigued me because of the summary I read on the inside flap, how this person seduced the emperor. It was even more appealing that this was basically a documentary of a persons life. It provided a nice reprieve from the modern Chinese novels that I had been reading recently. I liked learning about the imperial court life by learning about the culture and the politics. It made me appreciate it more, and realize what a great loss the country suffered when Communism eventually made itsThe story of the Dowager Empress of China. It is mostly on her first few years as a concubine, with very little about the final years of the empire (but that's covered in The Last Empress). Nevertheless, very good at capturing the atmosphere and political intrigue. The story continues in The Last Empress (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...).
4.5 Devoured, and followed with the companion The Last Empress . Engaging, detailed, literate, and intelligent: what one wishes for in the best of historical fiction these days. A soap opera plot is unnecessary when the narrative is so full. Min's personal history in China no doubt contributed immensely to the gravitas of the Empress 'voice' and the attention to physical detail, from weather to plants blooming in the appropriate months ( a shame how often an author throws in the name of a
I enjoyed this story. It's the first time I've read author, Anchee Min, and I think she crafted an interesting look at China in the mid 1800's. The Forbidden City where the Emperor and his wives, concubines and eunuchs lived has always been of interest to me. I like stories about palace intrigues and this was a good one. I will read the sequel and other books I can find by the author. I picked it up on a whim as I was looking for a different book on the shelves of my library and my intuition was
Empress Orchid was one of those books which left me in the state of oblivion. To put it simply, the book wasn't impactful at all and simply forgettable. This book tells the beginnings of Ci Xi, known here affectionately as Orchid. Because Orchid is the protagonist, Empress Orchid does boarder on being too one sided and opinionated.For example, Orchid's 'rival', Nuharoo, is often depicted as childlike and less intelligent. She is, by Orchid's account a woman of leisure who is petty and resorts to
The story of Empress Orchid should have been riveting. A life of intrique in dramatic times, novelised by an author who lived through turbulent political times herself. However I found it a very dull read. It's as if Min has pulled together a whole load of historical facts, with a little novelisation. The book does a good job of letting us into the world of obscene luxury and waste, the dullness of waiting, the fear of rejection, and undoubtedly Orchid was a remarkable woman who used the
The book follows the story of Tzu Hsi (known as Orchid) who enters the Forbidden City as one of the Emperors concubines at the age of seventeen. Over time she seduces the Emperor and bears his son, which means an immediate rise in rank to 2nd Empress (1st Empress is Nuharoo). We see her struggle to keep the Emperor's interest whilst battling with Nuharoo to be allowed to raise her child herself (normal custom is for the first Empress to take over). When the Emperor dies, and names Orchid's son
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