Imperial Woman

About “Imperial Woman”

Imperial Woman is a fictionalized biography of Ci-xi, the last Empress of China, who rose from being a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor to becoming the de facto ruler of the Qing Dynasty following his death. The book traces her life from her birth into a lowly rank of the Imperial dynasty, her move to the Forbidden City at seventeen to become a concubine, her ascent to the position of Second Consort through her beauty and manipulation, and her influence during a period of great change in China.