Book Review - Empress Orchid by Anchee Min

Rating: 10/10

Empress Orchid by Anchee Min is the story of China's Empress Dowager - Empress Tzu Hsi. Her rise from an innocent country girl to an elegant, time-hardened empress is depicted in this book. Her happiness, passions, and, most importantly, her secret sorrows are revealed to us. With detailed depictions that make the Forbidden City come alive, Empress Orchid shows the other side of the woman who the history books refer to as cold and ruthless - the reader is shown the face behind this stone mask.

I adore this novel because, for one, it's a historical novel. The story of a famous Manchu (those with Mongolian and Korean descent) empress is a welcome change from the past books that I've reviewed. Additionally, my reading of this book coincided with the fact that I had just taken and finished a course in Asian History. There were very few details regarding Empress Tzu Hsi and Anchee Min's novel provided me with the answers. It's a great, stirring novel that will show us just how elegant (and horrible) the lives of the Manchu nobility had been in the past. Furthermore, it is the story of one of the emperor's concubines. Tzu Hsi's longings and sorrows are outlined in the text and it isn't hard to imagine what she had been going through. It is definitely a difficult time for her.

I'm happy to have been able to read yet another fascinating account of a strong woman belonging to the pages of history. Somehow, it provides hope to me. That's why I will add The Last Empress to my "most wanted books" list. :)

Note: I used the spellings used in the book. :)