Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: 2004
ISBN-13: 9780747568339
Links: Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
To rescue her family from poverty and avoid marrying her slope-shouldered cousin, seventeen-year-old Orchid competes to be one of the Emperor’s wives.
Orchid trains herself in the art of pleasuring a man, bribes her way into the royal bed, and seduces the monarch. Little does she know that China will collapse around her, and that she will be its last Empress.
| Review in 10 words (or less): | — |
| Mood before reading: | — |
| Read: | — |
Review
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 though, before she becomes the Dowager empress and the story continues with the sequel. It was wonderful to soak up the atmosphere, pomp and ceremony from the pages and I can’t wait to read what happens to her next.
Rating
| Characters | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Plot | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Pacing | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Writing | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Overall | — |
Leave a Reply