The Last Empress

by Anchee Min
The Last Empress  
published March 21st 2007 by Houghton Mifflin
binding Hardcover
isbn 0618531467   (isbn13: 9780618531462)
pages 352
description Power is a here-today, gone-tomorrow concept in Chinese history, especially for women. In her previous novel, Empress Orchid, Anchee Min covere...more
date added
02-01-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 403)



Rose
07/20/08

bookshelves: 2008
Read in July, 2008
Overall, I was disappointed by this. I loved Empress Orchid and was delighted to see there was a sequel, but found this one hard going. The constant outcries of "History is wrong! I was just a loving mother!" were okay up to a point but then started to strain credibility, and I wasn't sure how much to believe (of course, the book never claims to be anything other than fiction). I understand that Anchee Min undertook very detailed ...more
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Ladiibbug
Ladiibbug rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
08/06/08

Read in August, 2008
" ... a powerful revisionist portrait [fictionalized account of a real historical person] of Tsu Hsi, Lady Yehonala, or Empress Orchid, who ruled China for more than 40 years in the late 1800's / early 1900's."

"The Dragon Lady" was portrayed in the Western press as a manipulative, blood-thirsty, ruthless woman who held on to power at all costs.

"The woman Anchee Min portrays gives us a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly and sacrificed all ...more
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Melissa
Melissa rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
08/06/08

Read in August, 2008
This book is a continuation of the story of "Empress Orchid." I found it to be a very good book. It contained alot of historical and political information. I found it interesting to see how different life in the Forbidden City was from those in power wanted the world and their countrymen to believe. There was a great deal of talk of ancestors and following the old ways. And yet there was so much corruption and lies. China's downfall was eminent. People were so concerned with the...more
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Jenny
Jenny rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
12/22/07

Read in December, 2007
If you're looking for a partially fictionalized history of 19th and early 20th century China, this might be worth reading. However, it failed to keep my interest from a literary perspective. This book is written as a sequel, and I suspect the characters are much more compelling to those who have read the first book, but The Last Empress does not do well as a novel on its own. I learned a lot, however, about the domestic and international political situation of China in this time period, espec...more
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Jenny
Jenny rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/17/08

Read in June, 2008
I enjoyed this book once I finally got into it which did take some effort. It was a little hard to follow with many characters and their roles not fully fleshed out it seemed...or maybe I should have read Empress Orchid first! Oops. I love reading about Chinese history though -- I can't believe it was just that little while ago that China was so "weak" and now a force to be reckoned with, and I can't believe anyone actually lived in the Forbidden City much less a whole Imperial village...more
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Sylvia
Sylvia rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/22/08

Epic story of a woman chosen as one of the emporer's concubines and becomes the mother of a very weak young emporer, effectively becoming the main ruler of China in a time of great change. While this is a mix of some fiction and history, many of the events in the story were not well explained, either from a fictional or historical perspective so motivations or outcomes of various events sometimes didnt make sense. Therefore the book was not all that compelling as the story progressed. Still inte...more
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Laurendd
Laurendd rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
09/06/07

Read in September, 2007
Though it was a pretty good book that kept my interest, and it was wonderful to read the continuing story of Orchid, The Last Empress was woefully lacking in the charm & richness that made Empress Orchid so wonderful.

The plot became bogged down in the military movements and history of the boxer rebellion and lost the personal story that drove Empress Orchid. Overall, only an ok read - the only reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 2 is because I enjoyed the character of Orchid so much in t...more
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Barb
Barb added it
08/21/07

Read in August, 2007
recommends it for: Yes
I am fascinated by Chinese history and read Anchee Min's book about Tzu Hsi's earler life in the court, "Empress Orchid". "The Last Empress" provides insight to her long life (73 years). She faced challenges with her son (named emperor, but died as a young adult), struggles with the political court, Chinese internal uprisings (i.e. warlords and the Boxer Rebellion) and with foreign powers. On her death bed she named Puyi as emperor. He was the last emperor of China.
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Tyra
Tyra rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
01/25/08

bookshelves: read2007
Read in November, 2008
I really didn't like this book too much. It was kind of a weird combination because the parts about the last empress were very romanticized, yet the rest of the book is very political and seems to be factual. Basically I don't think she did a good job of blending the historical facts and fiction together. It seemed really choppy. I think I would have liked the book a lot more had it been nonfiction. As is it was a slow read with lots of politics, which I would have enjoyed if I was learning hist...more
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Molly
Molly rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
08/20/08

Read in June, 2008
The story provided a window into the political world of last Chinese Empire/Monarchy in the late 19th century. It was interesting to see the international relations in the late 1800s and compare them to contemporary relations between China and Western countries, and the story illuminates the connections between these time periods and the roots of many differences and similarities. However, the writing style was a little awkward and forced, which limited any emotional connection to the charac...more
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Jenn
Jenn rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
11/11/07

bookshelves: 2007books, bookclub, librarybooks
Read in November, 2007
I wasn't super impressed with this one. Maybe if I knew a little more about the acutal Empress Orchid it would mean more to me. From what I understand she was perceived as a rather tyrannical leader. It seems to me that in this book, the author is trying to defend the common view and make the empress look more like a victim. I think she may have gone a bit too far to prove this. There wasn't really much more to it than a list of historical events and a list of 'poor me, I sacrifice everything a...more
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Amy
Amy rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
01/25/08

Read in January, 2008
What a disappointment! I enjoyed Empress Orchid, but this was a real snoozer. In fact, I had to renew it from the library b/c I kept falling asleep. The premise of the whole book felt like an argument that the "Dragon Lady" was just a misunderstood regent of China, that history had totally misrepresented her. It became distracting every time I read "the foreign press said this..." or "the public thought that...." I give it as high of a rating as I do b/c I fee...more
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Mara
Mara rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/22/07

Read in June, 2007
recommends it for: Historians, Asian Culture Lovers
Fantastic and eye-opening historic account of late 1800 China as told through an alternate vantage point whereby the humanity of the Empress Dowager contrasts with the demonized portrayal she has historically received. Not atypical of even modern-day depictions of "facts" as altered for political, social, or personal reasons and misunderstand across cultures and the world. Interesting insights into the tumultuous and highly transitional period in China's history.
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Kikidee
Kikidee rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/25/08

Read in June, 2008
This book picks up where "Empress Orchid" left off. Like its predecessor the sequel bears Anchee Min's mark for creating clearly delineated characters with strong emotional resonance. But this book became bogged down in places by what seemed like, in places, a timeline of China's history at that time. Still, I loved Min's debunking -- as much as you can in a historical novel -- of history's treatment of China's last empress as a controlling, murderous woman.
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Kristina
Kristina rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
11/24/07

Read in November, 2007
I just finished reading this book for book club. I will have to say that I was not impressed. A part of me wished I had read the earlier book to learn what Orchid was like before she became Empress but the other part of me didn't care to spend any more time on this character. I am interested in Chinese history but this story did not pull me in and I did not care enough about the main character to become invested. I can't recommend this one.
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Abby
Abby rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
01/06/08

bookshelves: generalfiction, historical
Read in January, 2008
This is part 2 of Orchid's reign over China (The fisrt book is Empress Orchid). Since it's based as much as possible on real events and documents, this reads much more as nonfiction than historical fiction as the first one did. It also spans over 40 years which is MUCH more than the first. I feel closure after reading both books but liked the depth of the first more than the scope of he second.
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kimberly
kimberly rated it: 1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars
09/21/07

Read in September, 2007
there's a fine line between writing a fictional book about a historical person (this book) and writing a fictional book about historical events (snow flower and the secret fan).

written in the first person, i couldn't get halfway through this book - i felt like i was questioning everything and wanted footnotes for why she wrote the way she did about this empress.

argh.
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e
07/10/07

Like its prequel, fulfilled my desire to learn/read more about cultural traditions of pre-communist China. Especially on the mysterious, antiquated and incredibly strict formalities of the nobility in the Forbidden City.

Also, always refreshing to read a new account of a powerful woman, long-demonized by male historians, as not such a "dragon" after all.
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Nicole
Nicole added it
03/24/08

Read in February, 2008
I haven't liked anything Anchee Min wrote as much as I liked the very first book of hers that I read--Red Azalea. But this was a good one. It wasn't as beautifully written as Red Azalea, but I kept turning the pages to see what happened next. I know it's fiction but it helped me understand how modern China came to be.
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Carole
Carole rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
07/24/08

Read in July, 2008
It was interesting to read that portion of Chinese history completely from the empress's point of view and putting her in such good light. I respect Anchee Min as an author, but I wonder if she didn't lean way too far away from the accepted picture of the empress. The truth must be somewhere in between?
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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.45 (253 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.46 (238 ratings)
number of reviews: 71






other editions

The Last Empress (Paperback)
The Last Empress: A Novel (Paperback)
The Last Empress (Paperback)