18
May
2009
Empress Orchid & The Last Empress by Anchee Min
I’m reviewing these two books together because in my opinion, they should have been one book. It might have been about 3″ thick, but that is not a good enough reason to split it into two separate books, if you ask me. I guess it boosts sales this way.
That said, I recommend you read these two books in succession. And I do recommend you read them.
These are, of course, a revisionist history. However, Min did a great deal of research in China (her native country). She concluded that the Empress Dowager, who has been considered to have been the bane of human existence for the last century, was a far more capable ruler than what others portray her as.
But Min does not over-glorify the last of China’s Empresses. Was she manipulating? Yes. Did she do everything in her power to secure a place for herself and her sons? Yes.
Actually, it makes for a pretty good story. Orchid, as she is helpfully referred to in the English translation of her name throughout the books, was practically destitute before her life of grandeur began. In the beginning of the first book, she is a teenager, transporting the corpse of her father to Peking, the city of his birth. They must do this themselves because even though he had been the governor of a far off province, the family is broke.
Upon reaching Peking Orchid hears that the Emperor will be taking wives. Like, a thousand, plus seven elite ones. The women chosen must have royal ancestry, and luckily enough, Orchid does, despite being poor now. Her father was, after all, a governor.
Orchid hopes to obtain a position as one of the myriad concubines but lands one of the seven elite wife roles. This doesn’t actually do much for her, as the Emperor’s mother has it out for her. This is but her first hurdle in her new life as a royal wife in the Imperial City.
Other hurdles include learning how to use the bathroom in front of servants who won’t leave her alone and figuring out what to do all day long.
Her days are packed in the second book. She has become Empress after bearing a son, and upon the death of her husband is the Empress Dowager to the new emperor, even though he is only a child. Thus Orchid, like many women throughout history who have ruled great civilizations, gains real power, if only for a limited time. Unfortunately, the life of a palace prince does not make for great rulers. They probably should have just given her the job outright.
The books are both filled with rich details of the imperial palace and also the politics that go with it, both those mentioned in history books and those that aren’t. For example, a lot of attention is given to the lives of the concubines, some of whom will never even meet their husband. As they age, they submerge themselves in superstitious religious practices, as that is the only thing that they can control and can give meaning to their lives. Being a concubine is not all sex all the time.
I’m not sure if Anchee Min has it all right with Orchid. I think that maybe there is a middle ground. Her portrait of what was surely a powerful woman is sympathetic, but I would not venture to defend its accuracy. What I mean is, don’t believe everything that you read, either in this, or any of the journals of those who knew the Empress.
if you like this book/author, you might like:
Dragon Lady: The Last Empress of China (NF) by Sterling Seagrave
Soon Dynasty (NF) by Sterling Seagrave
Imperial Woman (F) by Pearl S. Buck
Pavilion of Women (F) by Pearl S. Buck
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (F) by Lisa See
Empress (F) by Shan Sa
The Other Boleyn Girl (F) by Philip Gregory
Beneath a Marble Sky (F) by John Shors
The Commoner (F) by John Burnham Schwartz
Nefertiti (F) by Michelle Moran
The Eagle and the Raven (F) by Pauline Gedge
The Hundred Secret Senses (F) by Amy Tan
Other works by Anchee Min:
Becoming Madame Mao (F)
Katherine (F)
Red Azalea (CNF)
Related posts:
- 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan I really enjoyed Ellen Horan’s debut novel, 31 Bond Street. Centering on a murder in 1850’s New York City, it is more about a lawyer,...
- Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran This book contained so many elements that speak to me in a book and engage my nerdy interests, I just have to list them out:...
- Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez In Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s debut novel, Wench, Lizzie, Sweet, Reenie, and Mawu are all brought to the Tawawa resort in southern Ohio for the summer by...
- The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad I have mixed feelings about this book. Mixed feelings about the way it was written and its content. Norwegian journalist, Åsne Seierstad, lived with the Kahn...
- The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran I really wanted to love this book. But I just couldn’t. It needs a couple of more drafts before really getting there. The story...
