Empress Orchid

Anchee Min

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

About this audiobook

The critically acclaimed author, Anchee Min, paints a fresh portrait of the last Chinese empress in this brilliantly fictionalized tale set during the waning days of the empire. Seventeen-year-old Orchid belongs to an aristocratic family that has fallen on hard times. Unexpectedly, she is chosen as one of the emperor's lesser concubines. Within the Forbidden City are thousands of women hoping to bear the emperor a son and become his empress. Orchid, determined and resourceful, schemes her way into the royal bed and seduces the emperor. But as the opium trade erodes the might of the Ch'ing dynasty, Orchid find herself at the center of a crumbling nation. A colorful depiction of one of history's least understood women, The Empress Orchid is another enthralling masterpiece for Anchee Min.

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.