Empress Orchid

Yesterday I finally finished reading Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. I started it quite a while ago and put it down for several weeks for some reason. I then picked it up again this weekend and read the whole second half of the book since then (which is fast for me!).

The story is about a peasant girl who gets chosen to become one of the Emperor’s 3000 concubines and one of the 8 chosen wives. It gives a fascinating insight into how life would have been within Peking’s Forbidden City in the 19th Century and details Orchid’s rise to the position of Empress against the backdrop of political unrest in China as the Europeans invade (such evil British!).

The book takes quite a few chapters to get going, however I’m glad I stuck with it because the second half was really interesting and quite exciting. I may have enjoyed it more than others do because I do enjoy reading about the culture of the far east. I may try reading her autobiography at some point and maybe one of her other novels.

I think I give it a 7/10.