Anchee Min

Advantages: Rich historical detail, brings life in the Forbidden City to life
Disadvantages: Dull, fails to captivate, flat characters, wrong period of Tzu Hsi's life

...Empress Orchid is the latest work by Anchee Min, the acclaimed author of "Becoming Madame Mao" and "Red Azalea." The book is based on the life of Orchid, a concubine in the court of Emperor Hsein Feng who later went on to become Empress of China, ruling for more than 40 years. The description on the back cover of the book sounds fascinating - a woman managing to come to power in a male-dominated society, trying to protect and preserve her country against the European powers who seek to carve it up for their own purposes. Added to this the undeniable allure of exoticism (books on court life in ancient China are hard to come by), and the hint of sexiness given the fact that Orchid is a concubine, and the expectations of sex, romance, intrigue are all set. They exist in the book, but for a number of reasons they fail to take hold... Read review

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Advantages: Insight into a whole new world, fascinating/gripping storyline, true to history, beautiful language
Disadvantages: Slightly biased view

...This was an absolutely enthralling and wildly engaging story about a normal girl's rise to the last empress of China. Being Chinese and somewhat aquainted with Chinese history, I was intrigued about how Anchee Min might attempt to portray Cixi. I have to say she did a fantastic job. The book had me addicted from start to finish, I couldn't even bear to part with it for toilet breaks (excuse the crudeness). The language was deliciously lyrical, and the characters SO intricately portrayed that they are almost palpable. The way that Anchee Min writes, it's like the characters have come to life, playing out every scene in front of you. There wasn't a single dull chapter that I wanted to flick through. Every word, every punctuation mark was savoured to the full. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't one of those ridiculous 'olde' books... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: beautifully written, emotionally charged, sympathic
Disadvantages: could deviate from history a little

...a favourite of the emperor. The book was written well and described in great details about the life of Orchid. As I have some knowledge of chinese history beforehand, the traditions and ceremonies did not seem to faze me, but for someone with less knowledge, the book might seem a little bewildering. As a fictional story, I think it has been done well, and its characters were well described and presented. As a book that is based on true events, I think Anchee Min's interpretation of Empress Orchid is rather sympathetic and takes on a completely new angle. Empress Cixi, as Orchid was later known, is usually portrayed as a cruel woman. History suggests that she used a lot of manipulation and cruelty to reach to the top. This is hardly mentioned in the book - Anchee Min describes the innocence of a young girl, being tainted by the politics... Read review

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