The Last Empress

Anchee Min

Mar 2008 · Recorded Books · Narrated by Alexandra O'Karma

About this audiobook

The last decades of the nineteenth century were a violent period in China's history, marked by humiliating foreign incursions and domestic rebellions and ending in the demise of the Ch'ing Dynasty. The only constant during this tumultuous time was the power wielded by one woman, the resilient, ever-resourceful Tsu Hsi -- or Empress Orchid, as readers came to know her in Anchee Min's critically acclaimed, best-selling novel covering her rise to power. The Last Empress is the story of Orchid's dramatic transition from a strong-willed, instinctive young woman to a wise and politically savvy leader who ruled China for more than four decades. In this concluding volume Min gives us a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly and sacrificed all to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die.

About the author

Anchee Min was born in Shanghai in 1957. At seventeen she was sent to a labor collective, where after a number of years a talent scout recruited her for Madame Mao's Shanghai Film Studio. Her highly acclaimed memoir, "Red Azalea," was named a New York Times Notable Book and was an international bestseller, with rights sold in twenty countries. Min lives in California with her husband and daughter. She will be featured at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2015 program.