Average customer rating:
- Beautifully written
- Excellent Empress
- Great Book!
- Fascinating
- Engaging
|
Empress Orchid
Anchee Min
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Asian American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
United States
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Last Empress
-
Becoming Madame Mao
-
Red Azalea
-
Wild Ginger: A Novel
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
ASIN: 0618562036 |
Book Description
From a master of the historical novel, Empress Orchid sweeps readers into the heart of the Forbidden City to tell the fascinating story of a young concubine who becomes China's last empress. Min introduces the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid, and weaves an epic of a country girl who seized power through seduction, murder, and endless intrigue. When China is threatened by enemies, she alone seems capable of holding the country together. In this "absorbing companion piece to her novel Becoming Madame Mao" (New York Times), readers and reading groups will once again be transported by Min's lavish evocation of the Forbidden City in its last days of imperial glory and by her brilliant portrait of a flawed yet utterly compelling woman who survived, and ultimately dominated, a male world.
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully written.......2007-09-04
I had borrowed this book from the county library but I ended up buying myself a copy after I finished reading it in just one day. I loved it so much after reading just a couple of pages from the book. I've seen many different side of the story to the Empress from different authors but I would have to say that I love Anchee Min perspective better. I realized that I was feeling what the empress was feeling through out this book and the sequel, which I also bought "The last empress". Its a must read. After reading both books, I did the research myself. Wow! I can't believe such thing exists in history. This is the best book I have ever read and bought!
Excellent Empress.......2007-08-31
I really was attracted to the beautiful cover of this book. The subject matter was unusual and of great historical interest. A wonderful peek inside the forbidden city and the Chineese people. I found this book hard to put down and it made me want to read all of the others by this author. Good real
Great Book!.......2007-08-11
Anchee Min really takes you into the world of the Forbidden City during this time and into the mind of a concubine. Excellent!
Fascinating.......2007-07-05
I highly recommend it if you are interested to learn about China and like a great story that pulls you in completely. Extremely well written. Smart, colorful, solid writing. I read it in a day and a half, could not put it down.
The story continues in "The Last Empress". Read the first book first otherwise it's not a full picture.
Engaging.......2007-05-09
This novel pulls the reader in! The research and writing are impeccable -this is a must read for anyone the least bit interested in Chinese dynastic history.
Average customer rating:
- novel written like a memoir
- I'm a big fan of Anchee Min
- Interesting follow up to Empress Orchid
- Empress Orchid...part two
- Depressing...(beware of spoilers)
|
The Last Empress
Anchee Min
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Asian American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
United States
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Deals
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Literature & Fiction
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Empress Orchid
-
Red Azalea
-
Becoming Madame Mao
-
Wild Ginger: A Novel
-
Peony in Love: A Novel
ASIN: 0618531467 |
Amazon.com
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
Book Description
The last decades of the nineteenth century were a violent period in China's history marked by humiliating foreign incursions and domestic rebellion, ultimately ending in the demise of the Ch'ing dynasty. The only constant during this tumultuous time was the power wielded by one person, the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, Lady Yehonala -- or Empress Orchid, as readers came to know her in Anchee Min's critically acclaimed novel covering the first part of her life.
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. Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid must face not only the perilous condition of her empire but also a series of devastating personal losses, as first her son and then her adopted son succumb to early death. Yearning only to step aside, and yet growing constantly into her role, only sheâallied with the progressives, but loyal to the conservative Manchu clan of her dynastyâcan hold the nation's rival factions together.
Anchee Min offers a powerful revisionist portrait based on extensive research of one of the most important figures in Chinese history. Viciously maligned by the western press of the time as the "Dragon Lady," a manipulative, blood-thirsty woman who held onto power at all costs, the woman Min gives us is a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly, and who sacrificed all she had to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die.
Customer Reviews:
novel written like a memoir.......2007-09-10
This novel actually reads like a memoir, and if someone read it without knowing better, they might think it actually was one. The problem is that its novelistic qualities suffer in the process. I found the first book, _Empress Orchid_, to be more engaging. It had more of a sense of place in its descriptions, and the characters were more human. In _The Last Empress_, the Empress is reduced to describing many historical events that she did not witness firsthand, just to keep the reader up to date. However, this does not draw one in. There is a lack of description, and I had trouble remembering at what location certain events were taking place at (for example, remembering whether she is living at the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City at the time of any given event). I felt rather removed from the characters. The author has a revisionist take on the end of the Hundred Days reform, which may or may not be a believable version of events. It is also hard to give a sympathetic account of the empress' actions during the Boxer Rebellion. It did give me an interest in looking into the history behind the book. Her portrayal of the empress as a woman who did not want power but had it foisted on her by necessity is interesting, but it is a bit far-fetched that someone who stayed in power so long did not do everything in her power to stay in that position.
I'm a big fan of Anchee Min.......2007-09-04
I've read four of her books and I plan on buying every one of them. She is a great writer. I loved this book as much as "Empress Orchid".
Interesting follow up to Empress Orchid.......2007-08-31
First I read Empress Orchid and then Red Azalea and Becoming Madam Mao. I found the later no match for the former. The author made a very great journey in her writing. So when The Last Empress came out I was hungry for more of the characters in Empress Orchid. Somehow in growing older they lost some of their zip and flattend out. An good follow up but a bit less then the experience of Empress Orchid.
Empress Orchid...part two.......2007-08-27
I'd actually give this book 3 1/2 stars. It's the continuation of the Empress Orchid saga also by Anchee Min. It's a very good book, however it's not as exciting or dramatic as Empress Orchid. There's lots of military commentary and descriptions about reform in China and the Boxer Rebellion. I was hoping for more palace intrigue and I also wished that Min would have expanded on the love affair between Orchid and Yung, after all this book is only "based" on history...she could have spiced it up a bit. The charactors are colorful and her descriptions of China are rich. The Empress's two most loyal eunechs became favorites of mine. Overall this is a good book, esp. if you've read Empress Orchid.
Depressing...(beware of spoilers).......2007-08-19
I read "Empress Orchid" and thoroughly enjoyed at least the first half of that book. I was disappointed that I was lead to believe it would have more of a romantical storyline to it, and that it didn't, but it was still a good read. So I attempted to read the sequel, "The Last Empress." I did not make it halfway through, and I wanted every character to just hurry up and die! I don't know how much is based on fact, but why would anyone choose to read a book about everyone back-stabbing each other, committing suicide, beating each other to death... It was so depressing that I wanted to scream! Orchid herself becomes this crazy old woman who constantly lusts after the man she'll never have, and tries (and fails) to teach the up-coming emperors how to do a good job. But all that happens in this book, and "Empress Orchid," is that she is alone, the emperors all break down from stress and die, the other empresses go crazy and/or kill themselves, and China is still over-powered by the neighboring countries.
I'll admit, both books gave beautiful descriptions and great insight into many of the characters. I don't really care if it was a true story or not, I prefer fiction anyway. But there are no breaks from the depression that the author sinks you into. No small happy moments to break you free for even a second. Just bad, followed by worse, followed by not finishing the book because it was so bad.
Book Description
A ravishing historical novel of one of China's most controversial historical figures: its first and only female emperor, Empress Wu, who emerged in the Tang Dynasty and ushered in a golden age.
In seventh–century China, during the great Tang dynasty, a young girl from the humble Wu clan entered the imperial gynaecium, which housed ten thousand concubines. Inside the Forbidden City, she witnessed seductions, plots, murders, and brazen acts of treason. Propelled by a shrewd intelligence, an extraordinary persistence, and a friendship with the imperial heir, she rose through the ranks to become the first Empress of China. On the one hand, she was a political mastermind who quelled insurrections, eased famine, and opened wide the routes of international trade. On the other, she was a passionate patron of the arts who brought Chinese civilization to unsurpassed heights of knowledge, beauty, and sophistication.
And yet, from the moment of her death to the present day, her name has been sullied, her story distorted, and her memoirs obliterated by men taking vengeance on a women who dared become Emperor. For the first time in thirteen centuries, Empress Wu flings open the gates of her Forbidden City and tells her own astonishing tale–revealing a fascinating, complex figure who in many ways remains modern to this day.
Customer Reviews:
Plodding, boring and dry.......2007-07-26
I love historical novels. I did not love this one. Nearly the entire novel is written from the viewpoint of the main character, Heavenlight, with no dialogue. So, with the exception of a very few pages, the entire book is an interior monologue. A generous interpretation would be that the author was trying to convey a sense of the Empress's inner life, but I don't think she was sucessful.
Why Do I Dislike This Book?.......2007-07-22
So I started this book with high hopes. First fifty pages or so took absolutely forever to get through with the endless descriptions of the main character's time in the womb (get real!) and early childhood. Finally, her father dies & she ends up at her family's village, the reviled outcast--but of course, her charm & beauty cause a powerful man to recommend her to join the Emperor's harem and from that point on it's just one step up after another. I can't quite like Heavenlight--one minute she's all guilty about having someone executed, then the next minute she's thinking that she'll eventually have to execute another person eventually so it might as well happen now, oops! I think I'll go sniff the peony blossoms. I really tried to like this book, but just couldn't. At the end, I was glad she died. The other characters in the book are written as a bunch of [...]-kissing syncophants who only want to benefit from her power. None of them has any noble, honest or justifiable reasons for wanting to oust her from power because she obviously is meant to be emperor. I can't recommend it and I got very tired of only getting the point-of-view of Heavenlight. With about five million secondary characters (all with names like Strong as the Ancient Elephant and Noble Keeper of the Many Graces of the Temple), we could have at least had a few snapshots of how the other members of her "administration" viewed her instead of the constant reminders of how wonderful she was from her own musings. No one can dispute that the Emperor Wu was one awesome & effective ruler, but this book makes her sound like a shallow, opportunistic upstart who just happened to fall into the role she played for so many years.
Memoirs of an Empress.......2007-06-25
This book chronicles the life of Empress Wu Zetian from the time of her birth to her death at age 80. Shan Sa has certainly done her research, which certainly adds to the story. The Empress tells of the great poverty after her father's death, her service as a "Talented One", a monk, wife to the Emperor, and finally, as the Empress. The story is fairly interesting, but seems very heavily focused on the Empress's many personal and sexual relationships, both male and female, which I was not expecting when I picked this up. The story also can drag a bit when talking about events and what was taken to each event - like the horses, carriages, servants, etc. As long as one can overlook and trudge through these parts of the story, the rest can be somewhat fulfilling.
However, be forewarned that this book can hinge on being very depressing as the Empress has a roller coaster of emotions throughout the book and one can at the same time sympathize with her and be appalled at her. Despite her being seen as a Goddess and a link to the divine, she realizes she is human and the reader gets to view this as well.
Shan Sa has a good use of language and articulates the life of the Empress very well.
An intriguing read.......2007-06-08
I quite enjoyed reading this book; it convinced me to sit and read for quite a longer stretch of time than I have in a good while. I found it a fascinating look into a world about which I knew very little beforehand (although I cannot personally attest to historical accuracy or lack thereof in this case). I'd like to address a few complaints I've heard about the books, though. I fully admit that the characters (at least the main ones) are not what one might call sympathetic--but this ruthlessness, and, in writing style, the lack of emotions and inner thoughts which sometimes seem missing, give an excellent feel to the book because they reflect the harshness and discipline necessary within the life of the court, and the artificiality of the life which many of the characters lead.
I liked the extra historical information in the footnotes; they allowed me to take special notice of them and actually retain the information, and if you feel like ignoring more of the history and just taking in the story, the footnote form allows you to read right past them without missing text or breaking up the story.
I also appreciated the feel provided by a lack of characters' ages for large portions of the story, and the slight glossing over of certain events (although this is not to say that the events were ignored). In real life, you don't always pay attention to what age you are, and in the big picture, does it matter? It gives a more comprehensive tone to the book, I think, and meant that you didn't have to keep track of relatively minor details.
Overall, a very worthwhile read, and I plan to buy this book in the not-too-distant future.
Empress, by Shan Sa, One of the Magnificent Books.......2007-05-29
What can I say? I am flabbergasted and mesmerized at the same time! I have almost finished reading this book in one sitting; I simply cannot put it down. Regardless some comments from the other reviewers, to me, the Empress is one of the best, well written books that I have ever read. Another one is The Girl Who Played Go by the same author. The writing is poetic and the story is historical and informational. The intrigues in the ancient imperial court of China between the rivals were so vividly depicted and the events described were so real that give me a false feeling that I was among them. Unfortunately, it requires a bit of understanding of Chinese history and culture in order to fully appreciate this book. This may explain why these negative reviews by some people who have no or little knowledge of China. I could hardly wait to read it all over again. The book is highly commendable. Five stars all the way!
Amazon.com
The collision of Cuban dreams with sometimes harsh American realities has been Oscar Hijuelos's great theme, most notably in Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Certainly it's at the heart of his fifth novel, Empress of the Splendid Season, which chronicles the trials, tribulations, and infrequent triumphs of a Cuban American clan over the course of a half century. The protagonist, Lydia Espana, has grown up in pre-Castro Cuba, the pampered daughter of a prosperous businessman. But when she has the audacity to violate her father's small-town code of conduct--by sleeping with an itinerant musician--she pays a terrible penalty: "Her family, turning unfairly against her with a nearly Biblical wrath, had banished her, unprepared to contend with an indifferent world."
Where is Lydia banished to? New York, of course. And in this most indifferent of cities, the former "queen of the Congo line" finds herself in a less exalted role: that of a cleaning woman. This demotion she accepts with a very credible mixture of resignation and rock-ribbed realism: "The hardest part of being a cleaning woman had to do with the way people looked at her; often as if she were 'nothing.' It hurt her most when men did not notice her. The nature of the work itself, the outfit, the end-of-the-day fatigue, the messiness of that labor were not glamorous, so what could she expect." Lydia is less sanguine about her family's difficulties, from her husband Raul's near-fatal heart attack to her son's brushes with the law. Empress of the Splendid Season is in fact an ensemble piece that passes the point of view from character to character, from generation to generation. But it's Lydia's sensibility--at once stoic and sensuous--that ultimately enlivens this latest take on the American (or perhaps Cuban American) Dream. --William Davies
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, returns with this look at Harlem life in the mid-20th century. His story revolves around the trials and tribulations of Lydia España, a "wonder of affection, crankiness, strength, and gentility." Lydia's eternal belief that she is somehow special carries her through her life's changes, from pampered daughter of a wealthy Cuban family to struggling immigrant seamstress to widowed cleaning lady in Harlem. Rita Moreno reads this abridgment with considerable aplomb, her remarkable range of accents and emotions conveying all the novel's passion. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney
Book Description
Through four novels in the last decade, Oscar Hijuelos has produced a body of work that is without rival in contemporary literature, both in the lush, incantatory rhythms of his extraordinary prose and in his profound and heartfelt vision. In his transcendent new novel, Hijuelos tells the story of Lydia Espana, a beautiful and formerly prosperous é'migré from pre-Castro Cuba, who becomes a cleaning lady in New York. Once the spoiled, pampered daughter of a small-town mayor and adored by mena "queen of the Congo line"she is forced because of a youthful sexual indiscretion to leave home and, in 1947, finds herself suddenly living the life of a working poor. In time she falls in love with Raul, a humble waiter. One night in a Manhattan ballroom, in the middle of a bolero, Raul purposes marriage, for Lydia is his "empress of the most beautiful and splendid season, which is love."
A life of promise is disrupted when Raul falls ill and Lydia, finding employment as a domestic, becomes the head of the family. Striving to educate her town children, Rico and Alicia, in the style of the upper class, she must endure a lesson in humanity, cleaning the homes of New Yorkers much better off than herself. Among her employers is Mr. Osprey, a reserved and kindly lawyer, who eventuality takes an interest in her family's well-being and, during the turmoil of the 1960s, intervenes at a critical juncture in the life of her teenage son, Rico. Throughout this novel Lydia remains a sensual and powerful woman who meets the trails of a lonely life with humor and a gleam of triumph in her eyea sense that she is someone specialan empress of fortitude, of dignity.
Hijuelo's genius for evoking the heart and soul of his characters has never been more vivid, moving, and impassioned than in Empress of the Splendid Season. A master of eloquent detail, Hijuelos allows Lydia to open up, alive and vibrant on the page. No one writes better of love or the pulse of the city. And no one has better captured the complexity of what happens to generations of people who come to America: how assimilation ius at once the achievement of dreams and yet, sometimes, a loss of what has rooted us to the past.
Lydia, I am to you, as a sparrow adoring the sky;
Lydia, you are as the moon reflecting upon the water,
which is my soul;
Lydia, you are the queen of beauty,
the Empress of my love,
and you preside over the splendidness of my feelings for you,
like the morning sun on the most glorious day
of the most beautiful and splendid season,
which is love...
Raul Espana to his future wife on the night he proposed marriage, 1949, from Empress of the Splendid Season
Customer Reviews:
Great storytelling... about the memories of Cuba.......2005-11-04
I really enjoyed the way this author painted a picture of a society girl from the good old days in Cuba who ends up in New York as a cleaning lady. I loved the way she was always such a lady and was always soo concerned with what the neighbors were going to say and that the most important thing was to carry oneself as if they were a person of class.
The ending did not do it for me, we end up with Lydia draaming of something totally irrelovent. Even her bosses ending was so blah. I did enjoy it however and am looking forward to reading this authors other books!
A splendid look into Latin American life.......2004-04-07
Hijuelos has a way with his words that makes this book easy to read and enjoy.
The story is interesting and captivating. I really enjoyed his portrayal of Latin Americans.
Living an examined life........2003-03-20
Oscar Hijuelos writes of people with intense rich interior lives. These are people we admire for their emotional constancy and pity for their obsessions. I've read three of Oscar Hijuelos' novels. This is the least engaging of the three, but still a very nice book.
Hijuelos goes on auto-pilot.......2002-02-20
Not that this isn't a good novel. But with its Cuban immigrants in New York, great writing and not much of a plot, this is a book that the author's already written a couple times before.
Intelligent and compassionate.......2001-08-15
This is a novel that could be turned into a dramatic and engaging movie along the lines of "Mambo Kings." Nothing happens in this or other Hijeulos novels of great magnitude beyond the small circles of characters they embrace. But that's what makes this book great. He does a good job of transporting the reader into the lives of nobody important but who are filled with great dreams and aspirations. And there's enough intelligence and political and social commentary to elevate it beyond the typical hack drama and movie of the week dribble that books like this often are. It won't change the world, but it's an engaging and enjoyable read.
Book Description
Japan, 1699. On a moonlit night in Ezogashima, the northernmost island of Japan, a woman is running through the forest when an arrow zooms out of the darkness to strike her dead. Meanwhile, a world away in the city of Edo, the eight-year-old son of Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power and influence in the shogun’s court, vanishes during a moon-watching party.
When Sano’s political rival, Lord Matsudaira, hints that the boy may be in Ezogashima, Sano’s wife, Reiko, insists on accompanying him on the desperate journey. After an eleven-day voyage through cold and treacherous waters, they arrive at Ezogashima, only to find that Lord Matsumae, distraught at the murder of his mistress, is holding the whole province hostage until someone confesses to the crime. No one is allowed in or out of Ezogashima, and although Matsumae tells Sano his son is there, he refuses to release him.
Sano strikes a deal: He will solve the murder of Matsumae’s mistress if Lord Matsumae will free the hostages and return their son. Soon, however, he and Reiko find themselves caught up in a dangerous scheme that includes clan warfare, jealous husbands, and murderous betrayal.
Book Description
The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last Empress in China. In the novel Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rulers during a time of intense turbulence.
Tzu Hsi was born into one of the lowly ranks of the Imperial dynasty. According to custom, she moved to the Forbidden City at the age of seventeen to become one of hundreds of concubines. But her singular beauty and powers of manipulation quickly moved her into the position of Second Consort.
Tzu Hsi was feared and hated by many in the court, but adored by the people. The Empress's rise to power (even during her husband's life) parallels the story of China's transition from the ancient to the modern way.
Pearl S. Buck's knowledge of and fascination with the Empress's life are contagious. She reveals the essence of this self-involved and infamous last Empress, at the same time she takes the reader through China's struggle for freedom and democracy.
Customer Reviews:
A very interesting novel.......2007-06-08
A novel about a very interesting transitory part of the Chinese history. A fascinating main character, a rich story with a lot of things going on throughout the book. Very absorbing, highly recommended.
One of those novels that remains in your mind forever..........2006-02-19
Powerful prose & imagery from a writer who learned to write, it is said, from the Bible. It reads much like the story of Esther from the old Testament. Pearl Buck's characterizations are built up layer by careful layer with simple words and in spare phrases. This is a lovely book.
Behind Every Great Woman..........2005-05-12
IMPERIAL WOMAN is the fictionalized biography of the great Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, the real power behind the throne during the reins of the last four emperors of China. The story starts with her as a beautiful Manchu teenager who, along with her cousin Sakota, is picked for the emperor's crop of concubines. Through guile and ambition, Tzu Hsi bears the male heir to the emperor she comes to control. When the emperor dies young, Tzu Hsi makes sure she and Sakota are named regents for the young child emperor.
Through keen intelligence, intrigue, and whatever other means necessary, Tzu Hsi holds the imperial throne through her son's childhood. Buck portrays a woman split between feelings of love for her family and what is the best for the empire, rather than what I gather is the historical feeling - that Tzu Hsi was some sort of evil spider spinning schemes from the center of her web in Forbidden City. Through all the machinations and years she is aided by Jung Lu, her former betrothed and the love of her life.
The Dowager Empress has the ultimate power, but Buck shows she is a servant of the opinions of her court advisors and in reality only rules the eunuchs and court ladies in the Forbidden City. She is a relic of the past in a time of great change and cultural upheaval in China, when it is besieged by western nations and ideas. The infamous Boxer Rebellion is the beginning of the end for Tzu Hsi, and she loses her spirit and resolve after this defeat and the death of her beloved Jung Lu.
Equal to "The Good Earth" --a dramatic saga.......2003-12-30
The story of Tzu Hsi, last Empress of the Manchu empire of China, is dramatic and reads like a novel. Pearl Buck, who grew up in China and was there as a child while the Empress was alive, draws from the attitudes of the country people towards their almost mythical ruler "Old Buddha." While Buck takes liberties with some of the history, the story is essentially correct while giving an imperial-eye-view of how the times must have seemed to the woman who ruled for decades in turbulent times. The language is exquisite, the story is exciting. One of Buck's best novels and an enjoyable read for anyone who loves historical novels.
Ruthless Ambition.......2003-12-02
All about Tzu-Hsi, last empress of China, who reigned from the 1860's until her death in 1908. She reigned during a period of great transition in China, as the book goes on there is increasing pressure from outside - the nations of England, France, Russia, United States and others demand from China increased trade and the rights to allow their citizens to live in China and their priests & missionaries to travel wherever they please. Japan too is an ever present threat. The empress was unable to adapt to modern times, and rather than building modern ships and arms that would have enabled China to defend itself, all the taxes collected were spent on luxuries and palaces for her, only at the very end of her days after defeat did she accept the idea that China could not keep itself isolated from all the other peoples of the world and finally opened to the idea of sending Chinese abroad to study foreign ways.
The story begins with the teenager Yehonala, betrothed to Jung-Lu, she and her cousin Sakota are chosen to be royal concubines of the Emperor, a sickly and weak man who so far has been unable to produce an heir. Through sheer guile and ambition, Yehonala becomes the favorite, and produces a son for the Emperor (or is it his son?). When the emperor dies, she becomes Empress mother, regent for her still young son, and upon his death she seizes the throne and becomes Empress in her own right, first sharing the throne with her cousin Sakota, then finally alone. As Empress of China, Tzu-Hsi has absolute power and can raise people up or down, have them beheaded or bestow mercy according to her whim, but she is unloved and deeply lonely as the extremely powerful often are.
This is a great novel, there is never a dull moment or wasted word and I found it hard to put down, this is a fascinating look at Chinese history and Tzu-Hsi herself is unforgettable. Selfish and sometimes foolish as she is, the reader is compelled to like her. I remember first reading about Tzu-Hsi in a novel called the Forbidden City by Muriel Jernigan and I never forgot her, it was a real treat to discover this book, a really great work of historical fiction.
Book Description
In the late Victorian days, a large amount of gold is arriving unannounced on the cargo ship The Empress of India. Yet the impossible happensthe shipment of gold disappears en route. Sherlock Holmes, brought in by Her Majestys Government, knows that only one man is both diabolical and clever enough to pull off such an outlandish, daring, and, yes, theoretically impossible crime: Professor James Moriarty. Moriarty, however, had nothing to do with the crime and yet finds himself under siege from all sides. To regain his peace, Professor Moriarty takes it upon himself to locate the missing gold. But the gold is only the exposed tip of the iceberg and he soon finds himself matching wits with a mind asor perhaps even morenimble than his own.
Customer Reviews:
Empress of India.......2007-01-09
As an "expert" on Sherlock Holmes and all the "bad guys" who are connected with him, I was anxious to read this book. It was fair. I enjoyed reading it...but...I could tell how the plot was going to play out by half-way through the book. For Holmes fanatics, read it...for others...don't.
Good, but not Kurland's best.......2006-04-21
THE EMPRESS OF INDIA is a pretty good read, even though there are too many oddball characters and the identity of the gold thief is obvious. I've read all of Michael Kurland's Moriarty books even though I'm not crazy about the idea that the professor is an innocent victim of Holmes' bizarre obsession about a master criminal - that idea had already been used in THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION. The biggest fault here is that Holmes is missing for most of the story, robbing the reader of his exchanges with Moriarty. THE GREAT GAME was better, they were forced to work together in that one.
fabulous historical mystery .......2006-02-08
In 1890, the Empress of India leaves Calcutta carrying a quarter-ton of gold to deliver to the Bank of England in London. The vessel also carries an assortment of passengers including the notorious Professor James Moriarty and the malevolent Colonel Sebastian Moran. Brigadier General Sir Edward St. Yves leads thirty Highland Lancers watching over the fortune; his eighteen years old Lolita like daughter, Margaret accompanies him.
Moriarty and Moran compete for possession of the valuable heavily bejeweled statuette "Queen of Lamapoor" also on board. However, someone steals the gold shipment. The English government immediately assumes Moriarty did the deed. They ask Holmes to retrieve the stolen loot from the Professor, but instead he vanishes. Meanwhile Moriarty not enjoying the limelight that interferes with his "business" activities decides to solve the case of what appears to have been an impossible theft.
The latest Moriarty investigative tale is a fabulous historical mystery that uses the "locked room" concept enhanced by a vivid look at relationships during the late Victorian era "The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire" mindset. The terrific story line contains a strong who-done-it and how he or she purloined the gold, but is held together mostly by the "hero" who finds being the prime suspect interfering with his efforts to win the prize of GREAT GAME instead of Moran succeeding at the endeavor. Michael Kurland provides a wonderful thriller as the unknown opponent seems to match Moriarty with for wit.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
Astonishing in their lush realism and symbolic depth, the color images in this book by award-winning artist Zhong-Yang Huang draw readers into the mysterious Forbidden City. This fictionalized memoir of Cixi, a former Imperial concubine who ruled behind the throne for nearly half a century, includes intimate details about daily court life and presents a sympathetic look at how this strong woman thrived in a male-dominated world.
Customer Reviews:
An artful marriage of image and text.......2004-03-26
This is a wide-eyed irreverant look (literally!!) at one of the most enigmatic figures in Chinese 'herstory', and while fictionalized, whets your appetite for a longer, more involved recounting of Cixi's life (for example, like that found in Pearl S. Buck's "Imperial Woman")
The playfulness of the incredibly detailed paintings draws you in and the story does as well. It's sort of like a kid's picture book for adults of a world that is almost within living memory, yet seems centuries removed even from the experience of the Chinese!
Book Description
The love story of Emperor Jahangir and Mehrunnisa, begun in the critically praised debut novel The Twentieth Wife, continues in Indu Sundaresan's The Feast of Roses. This lush new novel tells the story behind one of the great tributes to romantic love and one of the seven wonders of the world -- the Taj Mahal.
Mehrunnisa, better known as Empress Nur Jahan, comes into Jahangir's harem as his twentieth and last wife. Almost from the beginning of her royal life she fits none of the established norms of womanhood in seventeenth-century India.
Mehrunnisa is the first woman Jahangir marries for love, at the "old" age of thirty-four. He loves her so deeply that he eventually transfers his powers of sovereignty to her.
Power and wealth do not come easily to Mehrunnisa -- she has to fight for them. She has a formidable rival in the imperial harem, Empress Jagat Gosini, who has schemed and plotted against Mehrunnisa from early on. Mehrunnisa's problems do not just lie within the harem walls, but at court, too, as she battles powerful ministers for supremacy. These ministers, who have long had Emperor Jahangir's confidence and trust, consider Mehrunnisa a mere woman who cannot have a voice in the outside world.
Mehrunnisa combats all of this by forming a junta of sorts with three men she can rely on -- her father, her brother, and Jahangir's son Prince Khurram. She demonstrates great strength of character and cunning to get what she wants, sometimes at a cost of personal sorrow when she almost loses her daughter's love. But she never loses the love of the man who bestows this power upon her -- Emperor Jahangir. The Feast of Roses is a tale of this power and love, the story of power behind a veil.
Download Description
"The love story of Emperor Jahangir and Mehrunnisa, begun in the critically praised debut novel The Twentieth Wife, continues in Indu Sundaresan's The Feast of Roses. This lush new novel tells the story behind one of the great tributes to romantic love and one of the seven wonders of the world -- the Taj Mahal. Mehrunnisa, better known as Empress Nur Jahan, comes into Jahangir's harem as his twentieth and last wife. Almost from the beginning of her royal life she fits none of the established norms of womanhood in seventeenth-century India. Mehrunnisa is the first woman Jahangir marries for love, at the ""old"" age of thirty-four. He loves her so deeply that he eventually transfers his powers of sovereignty to her. Power and wealth do not come easily to Mehrunnisa -- she has to fight for them. She has a formidable rival in the imperial harem, Empress Jagat Gosini, who has schemed and plotted against Mehrunnisa from early on. Mehrunnisa's problems do not just lie within the harem walls, but at court, too, as she battles powerful ministers for supremacy. These ministers, who have long had Emperor Jahangir's confidence and trust, consider Mehrunnisa a mere woman who cannot have a voice in the outside world. Mehrunnisa combats all of this by forming a junta of sorts with three men she can rely on -- her father, her brother, and Jahangir's son Prince Khurram. She demonstrates great strength of character and cunning to get what she wants, sometimes at a cost of personal sorrow when she almost loses her daughter's love. But she never loses the love of the man who bestows this power upon her -- Emperor Jahangir. The Feast of Roses is a tale of this power and love, the story of power behind a veil. "
Customer Reviews:
Tami Abdullah.......2007-09-21
A wonderful book. It is hard to put down. Indu is a magnificent writer.
Seductive and intelligent.......2007-08-03
Sundaresan is talented in her craft. She completely seduces the reader with vividly intense writing. She is artful in explaining customs and traditions without being condescending. The reader is enchanted by her storyline of a strong willed woman from tenuous circumstances and follows her like a waft of smoke through Mehrunnisa's path.
The love story is universal, and everyone can relate to the desire and longing for both life and love that the main character pursues, in this case, in the second half of her life. This sequel follows the character and the challenges she continues to face. She is so well created, that we grow to love her, knowing her flaws and admiring her strengths.
Immediately upon finishing the first book, I hunted down this sequel, which was as richly fulfilling as the first book was. I found myself reading the book by this author at every spare moment.
Love, murder, political intrigue..........2007-05-18
The other online reviews of this book are very accurate. This book seems less character driven than The Twentieth Wife. It's quite heavy in descriptive detail, which is sometimes plodding. But, Mehrunnisa's story is fascinating. What's that quote about "nice women don't make history"? She became increasingly ambitious, at times blinded by it, but always centered on her husband's love. Love, murder, political intrigue - what more can a novelist ask for? I enjoyed this very much.
The Feast of Roses.......2007-03-24
This book made me aware of the interesting background of the Indian culture. I feel it was very well written with a lot of detail and information. However, at times there was too much detail and it slowed down the story. The author knows how to weave the facts with an interesting story. I would loan it to a friend.
Exotic Moghul historical novel.......2007-01-09
This book is wonderful, well written and atmospheric. The personal story of Nur Jahan and her rise to power through her marriage to Jahanghir 4th Moghul Emperor in 17th Century India. Indu Sundaresan draws us into another world so vividly: sandalwood and roses, rustle of silk, cool marble floors under our feet, tiger hunts, the intrigue of the Moghul court, the hidden power of the Imperial harem (the Zenana)the circling European powers looking for a foot in the door to the riches of India. This book is a perfect vacation or winter evening read by the fireside. I gave copies of both 20th Wife and Feast of Roses to all the teenage daughters and nieces in my life. Reading this book has prompted to me to search out more historical accounts of the Moghul Imperial rule in India.
Customer Reviews:
Why, oh why, did it have to end?.......2007-05-05
In a word, 'perfect'. I fell in love with the Cooney/Altieri team with their first novel, "Court of the Lion". I never would have thought anything could surpass that novel, but "Deception" proved me wrong. "Deception" is set during the tumultuous T'ang Dynasty period of China. Though not exactly a 'prequel', the plot line of "Deception" does precede events in "Court of the Lion". "Deception" recounts the shocking and at times, disturbing, rise of Wu Tse-tien, the only female ever to be declared Emperor of China. In a time rife with superstition, T'ang China was the perfect scenario for religious charlatans to infiltrate the highest positions of power, nearly tearing apart a Dynasty and ages-old Confucian stability. As the corruption and Wu's lust for power grows, manipulation, murder and fear become the order of the day.
Enter Dee Jen-chieh- as Cooney puts it, a 'T'ang answer to Sherlock Holmes'. An unwavering devotee to truth and rationality, the young assistant magistrate soon finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the tangled web of corruption cast over the empire he loves so much. What begins as a simple investigation into a case of a man wrongfully executed for murder leads Dee on a quest for the truth that unnervingly appears to point at the heart of the T'ang, now rotting from within.
As the plot progresses, it becomes clear just how much Cooney has improved as a writer. The writing style is incredible and the final chapters will have your hair on end. Plot is layered upon plot, each skillfully peeled away at just the right time. So many different lives and events are tied together in a masterful buildup to an unforgettable climax, when the truth is finally revealed. Every character and every event, from start to finish, has purpose contributing to the ending. Nothing is unimportant. Everything ties together in the end, in similar fashion to 'Pulp Fiction' and it is every bit as artfully done as in that movie.
What I love most about Cooney's novels are both the descriptive style and character development. You'll love some, hate others, and most likely find your feelings towards some changing over the course of the book, but they seem very, very 'real'. There is Dee, juggling work and his own relentlessly insatiable curiousity with nagging wives and unfilial sons...there is Empress Wu, benevolence and malevolence all in one, a tigress and a lamb, a mother and a murderess...and one of my favorites, the arrogant monk Hsueh Huai-i, characterized by his mannerisms and a tendency to add a '...hm?' after nearly everything he says. And so many more...
Despite being heavily influenced by historical fact, it is important that the reader realize that "Deception" is a work of historical fiction. Empress Wu was a real person and many of the things she did, both good and bad, actually did happen. Of course some liberties were taken and deviations from truth made, but what came of it was a great novel.
"Deception" has drawn some criticism, accused of being anti-Buddhist. This is not the case in the book. It is actually the actions of charlatans maligning the peaceful faith for their own ends. In any religion, their will be corruption; in the time of the T'ang, there were 'dark' Buddhists and their were true practitioners of the faith. Both appear in "Deception". Dee explores the darker sides of both religion and human nature, providing a chilling look at just how powerful an influence religion combined with the fallibility of superstitious human beings can be.
At a hefty 627 pages, 'Deception' could hardly be considered 'too short'. But once it gets underway, the plot moves so fast and the characters are so engaging that the Cooney/Altieri-created T'ang China is a world you won't want to leave.
This novel is nothing short of a masterpiece, and is easily one of the best books I have ever read.
Too much twisting of historical facts.......1998-02-12
The book twisted a lot of facts regarding Empress Wu. Although a novel, as it depicts a historical figure, a more balanced account should have been given. For example, it is not clear that she killed her own daughter and her mother neither wielded such strong influence nor lived so long.
Another winner.......1998-02-02
Shorter, and perhaps not as good as their "Court Of The Lion", I still enjoyed this novel and the duo's style of writing.
Escape novel extraordinaire.......1997-01-10
This book is set in the glorious T'ang Dynasty in seventh century China.
The skeleton of its plot is a murder mystery -- the intelligent, if not
perfect, magistrate Dee must find the perpetraters of a series of gruesome
murders which lead him into the darker side of that alien Indian
religion Buddhism. But that's only the skeleton of a firm fleshed,
soft-skinned, fragrant smelling beauty of a novel. There's the force
of nature named Wu and her even more forceful mother who bend
and work the government of China into their own private plaything.
There's lust and intrigue, murder and worse in this long and
deliciously written novel. If you're looking for a good, week-long,
lock-the-door, take-the-phone-off-the-hook, curl-up-on-the-couch-and-
eat-potato-chips kind of novel, this is it.
Books:
- Everything You Need To Know About Men...You Can Learn From Dogs
- Falling Man: A Novel
- Fat, Broke & Lonely No More: Your Personal Solution to Overeating, Overspending, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
- Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change
- Flags of Our Fathers
- For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women
- Getting Started with Neurofeedback
- Gigi, God's Little Princess
- Gone: The Last Days of The New Yorker
- Henry Adams: Novels Mont Saint Michel The Education (Democracy: An American Novel, Esther: A Novel, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, the Education of Henry Adams, Poems)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Feelings Book: The Care & Keeping of Your Emotions
- Tales From Pixie Hollow 4 copy Box Set
- History: Fiction or Science
- Italic Handwriting Series Book D
- History: Fiction or Science
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- River Girls: Fly Fishing for Young Women
- The Nature and Logic of Capitalism
- Perspective for Interior Designers
- A Hoe Lot of Trouble: A Nina Quinn Mystery
