History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea Author: Rita Chang-Eppig Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing  Publishing Date: 2023 Pages: 287 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The dazzling historical novel about a legendary Chinese pirate queen, her fight to save her fleet from the forces allied against them, and the dangerous price of power.      When Shek Yeung sees a Portuguese sailor slay her husband, a feared pirate, she knows she must act swiftly or die. Instead of mourning, Shek Yeung launches a new plan: immediately marrying her husband's second-in-command, and agreeing to bear him a son and heir, in order to retain power over her half of the fleet.      But as Shek Yeung vies for control over the army she knows she was born to lead, larger threats loom. The Chinese Emperor has charged a brutal, crafty nobleman with ridding the South China Seas of pirates, and the Europeans-tired...

The Duke and I: The Princess of Blackmare (Liji Chronicles #1) Author: Veronica Skye Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Veronica Skye Release Date: 2019 Pages: 122 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review/ Synopsis: The Duke wants me. I must fulfill the duty to my country. But there is more to me than meets the eye.       It was 672 BC and the Central Kingdom had been divided into over a hundred of warring fiefdoms. The army of my country, Lirong, perched high on top of the secluded Mount Blackmare had been miserably defeated by the invading army from the State of Jin, one of the biggest states of all with a Duke that was ready to crown himself King.       The Duke demanded not only compensation in foodstuff and livestock from my father, the Baron of Lirong, he also wanted beauties from Lirong to decorate his court. When his eyes landed on my younger sister and I, I knew my opportunity for rev...

Descendant of the Crane Author: Joan He Genre: YA, Mystery, Historical Fantasy Publisher: AW Teen Release Date: 2019 Pages: 416 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review Synopsis: Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own . Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she's thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father's killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer―a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.      Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira―a brilliant investigator who's also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too ...

Wu Zhao: China’s Only Woman Emperor Author: N. Harry Rothschild Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Pearson Release Date: 2007 Pages: 256 Source: My Personal Collection Synopsis: This new entry in the Longman Library of World Biography series offers the compelling story of Wu Zhao - one woman’s unlikely and remarkable ascent to the apex of political power in the patriarchal society of traditional China.       Wu Zhao, Woman Emperor of China is the account of the first and only female emperor in China’s history. Set in vibrant, multi-ethnic Tang China, this biography chronicles Wu Zhao’s humble beginnings as the daughter of a provincial official, following her path to the inner palace, where she improbably rose from a fifth-ranked concubine to becoming Empress. Using clever Buddhist rhetoric, grandiose architecture, elegant court rituals, and an insidious network of “cruel officials” to cow her many opponents in court, Wu Zhao inaugurated a new dyn...

American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt Author: Stephanie Marie Thornton Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Berkley Release Date: March 12, 2019 Pages: 448 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Alice may be the president's daughter, but she's nobody's darling. As bold as her signature color Alice Blue, the gum-chewing, cigarette-smoking, poker-playing First Daughter discovers that the only way for a woman to stand out in Washington is to make waves--oceans of them. With the canny sophistication of the savviest politician on the Hill, Alice uses her celebrity to her advantage, testing the limits of her power and the seductive thrill of political entanglements.      But Washington, DC is rife with heartaches and betrayals, and when Alice falls hard for a smooth-talking congressman it will take everything this rebel has to emerge triumphant and claim her place as an American icon. As Alice soldiers through t...

Empress Wu: Rise Author: Jeff Hortman, Andrew Knighton Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Peachill Release Date: February 11, 2018 Pages: 206 Source: Publicist in exchange for an honest review Synopsis: In a world of choreographed behavior. A trap of etiquette and standardized rules. In the palace of the most powerful kingdom on Earth. In the midst of this web of constraint and rigid authority, one woman triumphed over centuries of ritual. One Machiavellian courtesan rose above the rules and became the most powerful ruler in the world.       My Review: This novel chronicles Empress Wu’s rise to becoming the queen consort to Emperor Gaozong. As a young girl, Wu meets a fortune teller that says her destiny is to be a king. Even though this seems like an impossible future, Wu still dreams one day of ruling China. Years later, she is given an opportunity to become the concubine to Emperor Taizong. The position of concubine seems to Wu a life of luxury at the pa...

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) Author: Julie C. Dao Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Philomel Books Release Date: October 10, 2017 Pages: 377 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: The Wrath and the Dawn meets Snow White and the Huntsman in this dark and mystical East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress.       Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her.      Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and...

The Dragon Empress: Life and Times of Tz'u-Hsi, 1835-1908, Empress Dowager of China Author: Marina Warner Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicholso Release Date: 1972 Pages: 271 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: From 1861 to 1908 a woman - the Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi, born the daughter of a minor mandarin - held the supreme power in China. Opportunist, ruthless, malicious, she ruled over 400 million people. This biography explores her complex personality - her extreme conventionalism, her hatred of foreigners, her passion for power and intrigue, her vanity and her delight in ritual, her extravagance and corruption, and her love of gardens, painting and the theatre. The book also portrays a China in rapid decline, as poverty, civil war and foreign exploitation and invasion brought about the fall of the Ch'ing dynasty.        My Review: Empress Dowager Cixi is one of history’s most controversial empresses. It w...

Dragon Lady: The Evil History of China's Last Empress Author: Sterling Seagrave and Peggy Seagrave Genre: Nonfiction. History, Biography Publisher: Bowstring Books Release Date: 2010 Pages: 624 Source: Kindle Unlimited Synopsis: The author of The Soong Dynasty gives us our most vivid and reliable biography yet of the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, remembered through the exaggeration and falsehood of legend as the ruthless Manchu concubine who seduced and murdered her way to the Chinese throne in 1861.       My Review: Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the last empresses of the imperial dynasty. She is attributed to the fall of the dynasty. She is often portrayed as a cunning, manipulative, and power-hungry figure. However, in this biography of the Empress Dowager, the authors claim that the rumors surrounding Cixi are false. The people who started the rumors were foreigners who blackened her name for personal reasons. Thus, the authors conclude that Empress Dowager ...

The Empress of Bright Moon Author: Weina Dai Randel Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Release Date: April 5, 2016 Pages: 370 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The time for taking hold of her destiny is now.      At the moment of the Emperor's death, everything changes in the palace. Mei, his former concubine, is free, and Pheasant, the heir and Mei's lover, is proclaimed as the new Emperor, heralding a new era in China. But just when Mei believes she's closer to her dream, Pheasant's chief wife, Lady Wang, powerful and unpredictable, turns against Mei and takes unthinkable measures to stop her. The power struggle that ensues will determine Mei's fate–and that of China.      Surrounded by enemies within the palace that she calls home, Mei continues her journey to the throne in The Empress of Bright Moo n, the second book in Weina Dai Randel's acclaimed duology. Only by fighting back aga...

The Moon in the Palace Author: Weina Dai Randel Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Release Date: March 1, 2016 Pages: 402 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power.      A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the Emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the Emperor a gift he can never forget.      Mei's intelligence and curiosity, the same traits that make her an outcast among the other concubines, impress the Emperor. But just as she is in a position to seduce the most powerful man ...

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China Author: Jung Chang Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Knopf Release Date: 2013 Pages: 498 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled China for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor’s numerous concubines. When he died in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China—behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.      In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the...

Empress Orchid Author: Anchee Min Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Release Date: 2004 Pages: 364 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: The setting is China's Forbidden City in the last days of its imperial glory, a vast complex of palaces and gardens run by thousands of eunuchs and encircled by a wall in the center of Peking. In this highly ordered place -- tradition-bound, ruled by strict etiquette, rife with political and erotic tension -- the Emperor, "the Son of Heaven," performs two duties: he must rule the court and conceive an heir. To achieve the latter, tradition provides a stupendous hierarchy of hundreds of wives and concubines. It is as a minor concubine that the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid as a girl, enters the Forbidden City at the age of seventeen.       It is not a good time to enter the city. The Ch'ing Dynasty in 1852 has lost its vitality, and the court has become an insular, xenophobic place. A few shor...

The Courtesan: A Novel  Author: Alexandra Curry Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Dutton Release Date: 2015 Pages: 384 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A timeless novel of one woman who bridged two worlds in a tumultuous era of East meets West       The Courtesan is an astonishing tale inspired by the real life of a woman who lived and loved in the extraordinary twilight decades of the Qing dynasty. To this day, Sai Jinhua is a legend in her native land of China, and this is her story, told the way it might have been.      The year is 1881. Seven-year-old Jinhua is left an orphan, alone and unprotected after her mandarin father’s summary execution for the crime of speaking the truth. For seven silver coins, she is sold to a brothel-keeper and subjected to the worst of human nature. Will the private ritual that is her father’s legacy and the wise friendship of the crippled brothel maid be enough to s...