BookDragon Books for the Diverse Reader

Any way you look at it, royal life is hell. So here’s yet another book to prove it. “Although I had every luxury and my duties were often rewarding, Imperial glory also meant loneliness and living in constant fear of rebellion and assassination,” according to the title character in Anchee Min’s latest book, The Last Empress. And let’s not forget the basics that were also “taken away”: “the freedom to wander, the right to love, and most of all, the right to be myself.” High prices to pay for a life in a sequestered palace, only to go down in history as a “mastermind of pure evil and intrigue,” as cited in one of numerous quotes Min offers on the book’s opening page. …[click here for more]

Review: San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2007

Readers: Adult

Published: 2007