by Anchee Min
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min is the story of a girl who rises from poverty to the role of Empress Dowager of China. Told as a first person narrative, the book submerges the reader into her world. As such, the story appears as viewed through the lens of a camera - Orchid's eyes. What is beyond the fr...
2.5
The first grown-up movie (a movie with subtitles, adult themes, and not based on a comic book or video game) I ever saw was The Last Emperor. I saw it pre-high school. I can't remember why I wanted to see it. I can remember really wanting to see it and loving it. I still love it. So it should b...
I had high expectations for this book after hearing so much about it on GoodReads. It sort of fell short of those expectations though. I give it 3 ½ stars, which is not bad but I thought it was going to be a 4 to 5 star book. The story itself was very good and it certainly started very well. Orchid ...
Dear God, but it's a joy to have bookstore gift cards to spend and new books flurrying onto my shelves!
One of my favorite books, ever.
The story of the Dowager Empress of China. It is mostly on her first few years as a concubine, with very little about the final years of the empire (but that's covered in The Last Empress). Nevertheless, very good at capturing the atmosphere and political intrigue. The story continues in The Last Em...
I loved it. The story of a girl overcoming hardships, set in the Forbidden City. She goes from nothing to becoming one of the most formidable women in China at the time. It's a work of fiction but is based on a real character, the Empress Dowager. This book only takes us through her early life thoug...
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