{"product_id":"9780547346908","title":"The Last Empress: A Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003e“Admirers of \u003ci\u003eEmpress Orchid\u003c\/i\u003e will be interested in this sequel. Others may find the introduction to relatively modern Chinese history a revelation” (\u003ci\u003eRocky Mountain News\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e During the tumultuous end of the nineteenth century in China, the only constant was the power wielded by one person: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, Lady Yehonala—or Empress Orchid—as readers came to know her in Anchee Min’s critically acclaimed novel covering the first part of her life.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Last Empress\u003c\/i\u003e, Orchid moves from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage. Devastating personal losses take their toll, leaving her yearning to step aside, but only she—allied with the progressives, but loyal to the conservative Manchu clan of her dynasty—can hold the nation’s rival factions together.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Anchee Min offers a powerful revisionist portrait based on extensive research of one of the most important figures in Chinese history. Viciously maligned by the western press of the time as the “Dragon Lady,” a manipulative, blood-thirsty woman who held onto power at all costs, the woman Min gives us is a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly, and who sacrificed all she had to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “The vision of an empress who very nearly had it all: vulnerability and strength, motherhood and power, earthiness and dignity, compassion and ambition.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Invokes the intrigue and opulence of nineteenth-century China while telling the story of its improbably dominant ruler.” —\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47123040370928,"sku":"9780547346908","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780547346908_p0.jpg?v=1769895821","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780547346908","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}