The Last Empress: A Novel
by Anchee Min
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anchee MinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-07
ISBN: 0547053703
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Mariner Books
Book Reviews of The Last Empress: A Novel
Book Review: A well researched record
Summary: 5 Stars
Novel or history - it is still a well researched life-story of the Dowager Empress, refuting much of the derogatory stories spread by the newspapers of her day. Anchee Min's bi-lingual skill allowed her to dig deep into the documents of the period. I found many moments in the book very moving, as it describes the persona of the empress and the connection she had with her two infant emperors and her very few close friends, feelings which the etiquette of her culture did not allow to be displayed.
The book also gives an excellent overview of the historic events in China during her life time. This was very interesting to me personally, as it lead straight into the period after the empire disintegrated into divided warlord controlled regions, which I had to research relating to my father's connection with Chiang Kai-shek and Dr Chu Chia-Hua (Seppl: a step ahead of politics}.
I recommend Anchee Min's "The last Empress of China" as a moving biography and historic novel.
Summary of The Last Empress: A Novel
The last decades of the nineteenth century were a violent period in China?s history, marked by humiliating foreign incursions and domestic rebellions and ending in the demise of the Ch?ing Dynasty. The only constant during this tumultuous time was the power wielded by one woman, the resilient, ever-resourceful Tsu Hsi -- or Empress Orchid, as readers came to know her in Anchee Min?s critically acclaimed, best-selling novel covering her rise to power.
The Last Empress is the story of Orchid?s dramatic transition from a strong-willed, instinctive young woman to a wise and politically savvy leader who ruled China for more than four decades. In this concluding volume Min gives us a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly and sacrificed all to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die.
The Last Empress is the story of Orchid?s dramatic transition from a strong-willed, instinctive young woman to a wise and politically savvy leader who ruled China for more than four decades. In this concluding volume Min gives us a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly and sacrificed all to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die.
Power is a here-today, gone-tomorrow concept in Chinese history, especially for women. In her previous novel, Empress Orchid, Anchee Min covered the first part of the life of Tzu Hsi, or Empress Orchid. Now, in The Last Empress, the empress is a widow, mother of the only male heir of the now-deceased emperor, and in a formidable position. Still, she must contend with palace intrigue on all fronts; even her eunuchs are bribed. She must put up with the smiling faces of men and women who mean her great harm, and, worst of all, her son takes up with prostitutes and dies of veneral disease. She adopts her nephew to be emperor, treats him like a son, and despairs of his weakness. Constant deceit is not the only difficulty which must be faced: incursions of foreigners and domestic rebellion are also part of this violent period at the end of the 19th century. There is the love-hate relationship with the Japanese, the Boxer Rebellion, and widespread mistrust of Western foreigners. Yet Empress Orchid believes that they must appease these factions in order to preserve the dynasty and the throne. All these problems converge to bring the Ch'ing Dynasty to its eventual demise.
A disclaimer: do not read The Last Empress as straight historical fact. Anchee Min makes no bones about the fact that her writing is meant to "rehabilitate" crucial female figures in Chinese history. Whichever account of Tzu Hsi is correct, the historical tradition that she was an overbearing harridan, selfish, greedy, and bloodthirsty or Min's portrayal of her as a loving mother, trying to protect her country and longing to step down but prevented from doing so by her wishy-washy son, The Last Empress is an endlessly interesting look at palace life, that hermetically sealed world that once existed in China. --Valerie Ryan
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