At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by humiliating foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid. Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid makes a dramatic metamorphosis from a strong-willed young woman to a wise political leader, who must not only face the perilous condition of her fading empire but also a series of devastating personal ...
Read More
At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by humiliating foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid. Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid makes a dramatic metamorphosis from a strong-willed young woman to a wise political leader, who must not only face the perilous condition of her fading empire but also a series of devastating personal losses. Yearning to step aside yet growing constantly into her role, only she can hold the nation's rival factions together. In this sequel to the bestselling novel Empress Orchid, Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who assumes power reluctantly, and who sacrifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Last Empress to cart. $14.93, good condition, Sold by Goldstone Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ammanford, CARMS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of The Last Empress to cart. $17.67, very good condition, Sold by Bestsellers Returns rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, HEREFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Add this copy of The Last Empress to cart. $17.74, very good condition, Sold by Wyemart Limited rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from HEREFORD, HEREFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Add this copy of The Last Empress to cart. $24.93, very good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
Add this copy of The Last Empress: a Novel to cart. $51.55, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Macmillan.
Most American readers and movie goers like happy endings, which usually translates into fantasy and we all know what a fantasy is: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. You won?t find a happy ending in Anchee Min?s The Last Empress, but you will find a closer version to the truth. I recently read in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Rocky Mountain News and the Los Angeles Times that The Last Empress isn't as powerful as The Empress Orchid, which is the first edition in this two book series. The critics writing for those three newspapers are correct. The reason for that is because The Last Empress is a completely different story (something that those critics seem to have missed)?one that chronicles the life of a mother/empress who struggles to assure that her son and then her nephew will be strong enough to save China and quite a struggle it is. In The Empress Orchid we have a young person coming of age, and the struggles of surviving when a main character is young usually makes for a faster paced story then a middle age character or older. The Last Empress is the sequel to the highly successful Empress Orchid. It is true that Communist Chinese school books paint Tzu Hsi as a monster and demon, which goes along with the stories of Edmund Backhouse, the London Times correspondent to China during the final days of the Ching Dynasty?never mind that scholar and historian Sterling Seagrave revealed in his book, Dragon Lady, that Backhouse was a liar. Backhouse painted the Empress as a sexual deviant hungry for power and that seems to be what the critics writing in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the Midwest want from Anchee Min?s The Last Empress. Fortunately for us, Anchee Min gives us an Empress closer to the truth. I, for one, would rather read about the real world than a myth perpetuated by liars. When I want a fantasy, I?ll go to the movies. The Last Empress paints a picture of China as it really was at that time. For readers who prefer reality to fantasy, I recommend this book. The Empress Orchid is a story about an adolescent growing into maturity. In The Last Empress we see the mature person at work.
