num_pages: 336
description: A fictional portrait of the infamous last empress of China follows the life of Orchid, a beautiful teenager from an aristocratic but impoverished family, who is chosen to become a low-ranking concubine of the emperor and who uses her seductive talents and intelligence to rise to a position of power in the Chinese court. 35,000 first printing.
language: English
title: Empress Orchid
titlecomplete: Empress Orchid
characters: Prince Kung, Tzu Hsi, Emperor Hsien Feng
genres: Fiction, Historical, Cultural, Asia, China, Romance, Adult, Asian Literature, 19th Century, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 24163
places: Beijing, The Forbidden City, China
series: Empress Orchid
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt