As the Qing Dynasty draws to a close...

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of this book - when faced with unpronounceable names in a foreign language, the audio is often the best solution and Leanne Yau had a convincing Chinese accent.

The main character is Yaqian, just a child when she is removed from her rural home province and sent to an embroidery school. As a young girl she had enjoyed working in the fields, where she had loved caring for the silk worms, but when the time came for her feet to be bound, she had to stay indoors and learned embroidery instead. She worked on her first pair of dainty shoes, intending to wear them herself, but they were so beautiful that they were taken from her and sold.

Her skills became recognised and she gained a place at a prestigious embroidery school, where the sales of her work were to pay for her education. The daily rigours of the school are covered in quite extensive detail, including music and traditional dance.
Yaqian is always striving to improve and when she develops a technique that allows both sides of the embroidery to be perfect, she starts to excel beyond the skills of her master.

A piece of her work is sent as a gift to the Emperor's favourite concubine and suddenly she finds herself whisked away to the capital and to a new life in the Forbidden City.
Through Yaqian we partake in events from the late 1800s into the early twentieth century, as she becomes Imperial Concubine Yi's personal embroiderer. As Concubine Yi rises to become Empress Cixi, Yaqian stays loyal and eventually becomes a personal friend. The Qing Dynasty is drawing to a close and events become tense and worrying, yet Yaqian keeps her head and proves herself well beyond her skills as an embroiderer.
How cool is it that we can now visit this Forbidden City, where so much of China's history once played out?

The author has lived in China for the past eight years and speaks the language. She researched extensively for this novel and I found myself becoming very involved in the history of Chinese embroidery. There was also the inevitably uncomfortable section on the ancient practice of foot binding, so be warned.

An interesting novel to listen to, slow moving but never static. This would appeal to lovers of historical fiction and historical romance.

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Stunning

Loved this book read it in one day. Sad when it ended, highly recommended

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Fascinating Chinese historical drama

Strong characters, skilled narration, sweeping drama, court intrigue, covering decades of Chinese 19th century history

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Humility and Power in the forbidden city

Gorgeous story of a young woman whose life is changed when she is invited to live in the imperial court. Her humility never leaves her and this is amazingly voice acted.
It tells a story of power, not just from masculine lines, but through hard work, connectedness and diligence. The inner strength and courage that are portrayed, leave a resonance even after finishing listening.

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1 person found this helpful

another view of the last empress of China

very interesting story of a remarkable woman who ruled and who's rule leas to the end of the Empire and the rise of communism

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1 person found this helpful

great story.

fantastic story and narrator.
this really is one of the most interesting story l have listened to. its about 1800's china and a young womans life.

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great story

It is beautifully written must have done so much research to bring to life the times of the Chinese court of the time.
enjoyed it very much

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1 person found this helpful

silk

This is story of Yang a female servant Han to the Manchu dowager empress This is a tale rife with court intrigues, power struggles, illicit love affairs, and unspeakable violence.

Yang rises from humble beginnings to the royal court of the notorious Empress Cixi. She is the only child of silk farmers, she is feisty and ambitious, and a prank lands her in the court of the Emperor where she comes part of the retinue servicing the mother to the future Emperor. She falls in love with a Prince and as Cixi. This is a fascinating look into the Forbidden City.

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Good read

Not super compelling, a light weight tale, read in a weird English accent, with very weird regional vowel sounds.
Entertaining and nicely historical and rich.

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