... Based on the true story of Tz'u-hsi, (the eponymous Orchid) the last Empress Dowager of China, Anchee Min brings to life the beauty and opulence of the famous, walled Forbidden City with the city of Peking. Orchid (who takes the name of Lady Yehonara on marriage) is the fourth of seven wives, ... Read review
Advantages: A beautiful story, beautifully written Disadvantages: Detailed. Unusual names and words sometimes hamper.
...(the eponymous Orchid) the last Empress Dowager of China, Anchee Min brings to life the beauty and opulence of the famous, walled Forbidden City with the city of Peking. Orchid (who takes the name of Lady Yehonara on marriage) is the fourth of seven wives, and with 3000 concubines also vying for the attention of the Emperor, she soon realises that intrigue, treachery and manipulation will be part of her life until she dies. The Forbidden City has ... ...death - for overstepping the mark. "One wrong move and your head could be chopped". (p21) One unfortunate soul is dismembered and kept in a jar. However, the rewards are high and competition is tough, not only to produce a male heir but to provide the emperor with vast numbers of children. Orchid bribes her way into her husband's bed (lets not forget he has over 3000 women at his disposal) but she must then work hard to keep his attention ... more
Paperback purchased from Waterstones for £7.99
I LOVED this book. Based on the true story of Tz'u-hsi, (the eponymous Orchid) the last Empress Dowager of China, Anchee Min brings to life the beauty and opulence of the famous, walled Forbidden City with the city of Peking. Orchid (who takes the name of Lady Yehonara on marriage) is the fourth of seven wives, and with 3000 concubines also vying for the attention of the Emperor, she soon realises that intrigue, treachery and manipulation will be part of her life until she dies. The Forbidden City has strict rules of etiquette and harsh punishments - often death - for overstepping the mark. "One wrong move and your head could be chopped". (p21) One unfortunate soul is dismembered and kept in a jar. However, the rewards are high and competition is tough, not only to produce a male heir but to provide the emperor with vast numbers of children. Orchid bribes her way into her husband's bed (lets not forget he has over 3000 women at his disposal) but she must then work hard to keep his attention while risking the wrath of the other women for monopolising his time. Refreshingly, he falls for her character, intelligence and grasp of political matters. Although another wife produces the firstborn, a daughter, Orchid gives birth to a son. Their lives are constantly in danger as the jealous and the power-hungry plot against them - not helped by Orchid's position as the Emperor's favourite concubine and with only one trustworthy companion, An-te-hai, her personal eunuch.
Although the pace and language may not to everyone's taste, this novel is beautifully written and made a lovely change from the plethora of easy-reading chick-lit (which I have enjoyed but has now become boringly predictable). This tale is full of intrigue and suspicion and, though a million miles away from Orchid's life, I found I could sometimes relate to her situation. Singled out and alienated from the other wives (the reason is hinted at but never fully explained) she has endless days of monotony and routine when the most interesting thing in her day is a stroll in her garden admiring the butterflies. As a housewife, this rang bells of recognition. I think Min conveys this boredom while maintaining the reader's attention by interspersing the ennui with whisperings within the city of murders, threats and suicides, and days of commotion such as a lucky escape from a beating from the Emperor's first wife.
The final chapters of this book are the most exciting as Orchid battles to protect her life and her son from the powerful but corrupt Su Shun. I finished it at 5am!
This is based on a true story but there is a moral to the tale - Be careful what you wish for. There's a price to pay for the beautiful world of fame and fortune. Orchid willingly entered the Forbidden City with dreams of riches, rank and magnificent palaces. She soon discovers the reality of rules and rituals, the boredom of ceremony, a real case of 'all dressed up and nowhere to go', and the dangers which would not have concerned her if she had chosen, instead, to marry her slope-shouldered, retarded cousin, Bottle. Which would you choose? Be careful.
NB. The Palaces within the Forbidden City have now been converted into museums and are open to the public. Although Emperor Hsien Feng barely gets a name-check, Tz'u-hsi (Empress Orchid) is recorded in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia Vol 12, p.95 and the fate of her son, T'ung-chih, is recorded in the same volume, p.39.
Advantages: Good overall picture of life in the Forbidden City Disadvantages: Some areas could be developed further
...a real character: the Dragon Empress of China, Tzu-Hsi. The novel begins with Orchid, whose character and life is based on that of the Dragon Empress, walking from Wuhu to Peking with her family to bury her father at his birthplace. The family is so poor that partway through the journey they run out of money, and, once they reach Peking, have to move in with Orchid's uncle. At this time, Orchid is seventeen.
Orchid's uncle suggests that she marry ... ...She's horrified by the idea but has to accept: after all, she has no other prospects. This changes however when her employer, Big Sister Fann, mentions the decree forbidding Manchu girls to marry until the Emperor has chosen his wives. This is a lucky break for Orchid as she is Manchu rather than Chinese, so she puts herself forward to enter the Forbidden City to be one of the Emperor's wives. Big Sister Fann, as she used to work in the Forbidden ...
sally.jenkins 04.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Empress Orchid - 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 ... ...mostly on Orchid's life as Empress rather than her rise to power. In the end, the reader fails to bond with the characters because you never learn much about them. There are moments of interest in the book, but between the lack of character development and the excessive amounts of detail, the book goes from a potentially wonderful book to a 336 page read that drags on with no end in sight. When the end does finally arrive, it's both anti-climactic ...
mystikchick17 27.05.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Empress Orchid - Anchee Min
'Love is survival, seduction is power, and treachery a way of life...'
Again I've been seduced by the cover, this intriguing caption, the blood-red cover, the inscrutable image of a young Chinese girl's eyes, and yes of course, the cursory glance at the back cover, where it reads:
'Orchid trains herself in the art of pleasuring a man, bribes her way into the royal bed, and seduces the monarch...'
This was enough, I parted with the cash £6.99, ... ...even a little aroused, thinking that there would be perhaps some steamily erotic sex scenes between Orchid and the Emperor. The story begins with the death of Orchid's father and their ensuing poverty, they begin the long journey carrying him home to be buried. Reaching Peking they are taken in by a relative and begin to make a new life for themselves, but they are very poor and in order to secure their life in Peking Orchid is forced into an engagement ...
kitty17 14.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Empress Orchid - Anchee Min
...of Tzu Hsi the last Empress of China, a woman that a lot of controversy surrounded over whether it was China's or her own interests that were her motivation. Firstly I would like to point out that the description of the story on the back cover is rather misleading. I got the impression that the story was erotic and sensual, but this is not particularly the case. However I would like to point out that the story is told in first-person view and in ... ...Anchee Min manages to convey a sense of period through the way Orchid tells her story. She is able to show us her embarrassment, frustration and restraint. I find Min's style of writing compelling and addictive. Although she does not discuss any of the characters in depth I found her descriptions beautiful and the history fascinating.
The books main faults are the characters. I personally found Orchid believable and likeable, however I enjoy flawed ...
Kittys_gremlin 14.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Empress Orchid - Anchee Min
Advantages: beautifully written, emotionally charged, sympathic Disadvantages: could deviate from history a little
...of Express Cixi, the last empress of China. It describes the journey of Orchid, a girl whose family's downfall leads her to become a candidate for one of the Emperor's new wife. Although she was not as beautiful and talented as the properly educated and high socially ranked Nuharoo, she was also chosen (alongside Nuharoo) as a concubine of Emperor Tsien Feng and became Lady Yehonala. The story describes the politics and struggle in the Forbidden ... ...power, for her to become Empress Cixi (not described in the book), is a result of a clear knowledge of the Chinese politics at the time (as Tsien Feng allowed her to help with his documents), the production of a son for the emperor and being 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 ...
immortal_pheebs 06.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Empress Orchid - Anchee Min
