Title: Empress Orchid
Author: Anchee Min
What I Think So Far: Whilst generally not the kind of book that I go for, I’m really enjoying Anchee Min’s narrative centered on the last Empress of the Ch’ing dynasty. It’s a book full of juxtaposition between rich and poor, male and female, loyalty and betrayal. Min clearly exposes the hypocrisy of the last dynasty of China, lavishing money on concubines, intricate artwork and jewels, whilst China’s peasants starve and rebel against its Emperor; the symbol of the ‘Forbidden City’ exposes the precariously situated balance of power; the clear dichotomy of ‘us and them’ both foreshadows the dynasty’s downfall and cements Empress Orchid’s sense of empathy, a humble girl from peasant origins herself. Based on a true story, the book exposes the deceit and betrayal that lay between the thick stone walls that housed China’s nobility; it is almost disgustingly gluttonous in its essence, but all this serves to highlight the pure strength and resilience of the book’s protagonist: Orchid, the woman whose sense of realism led her to negotiate with diplomats, sign treaties and attempt to save the country that her people ‘discovered’ – all against the will of the dynasty that exploited, terrified and undermined her.
Would I recommend? Yes. The book’s history is fascinating. Whilst the endless rapturous descriptions can be a bit much at times, Chinese history is rich in its origins and has been largely neglected in Western literature. It’s not simply a feminist text but a universal text, conveying the unfortunate sentiment that even the best-reasoned diplomacy cannot triumph in the wake of generations of despotic rule.
Rating: 9/10
Words by Beth Chaplow