Last Empress

The last decades of the nineteenth century were a violent period in Chinas history marked by humiliating foreign incursions and domestic rebellion ultimately ending in the demise of the Ching 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 Mins critically acclaimed novel covering the first part of her life.. The Last Empress is the story of Orchids 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 sheallied with the progressives but loyal to the conservative Manchu clan of her dynastycan hold the nations 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.