Wild Ginger (21 page)

I never forgot about the
taotai.
After I became the Empress of China I sought him out. I made an exception to promote him. I made him a provincial governor, and he was given a handsome pension for the rest of his life.

BECOMING MADAME MAO

"An astonishing journey into China's recent past and the lives of its most noted leaders."—
Los Angeles Times

This extraordinary novel tells the stirring, erotically charged story of Madame Mao Zedong, whom many hold directly responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Bringing her lush psychological insight to bear on the facts of history, Min penetrates the myth surrounding this woman and provides a "convincing, nuanced portrait of a damaged personality"
(Entertainment Weekly).

ISBN-13: 978-0-618-12700-9

ISBN-10: 0-618-12700-3

WILD GINGER

"Once again, Min reminds us of the freedoms we take for granted."

—San Francisco Chronicle

Set in Shanghai in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Chairman Mao ruled absolutely and his followers took up arms in his name,
Wild Ginger
is at once a coming-of-age tale and a heartrending love story. Wild Ginger is only in elementary school when she is singled out by the Red Guards for her "foreign-colored eyes." Though she grows up to become a model Maoist, her romantic love for a man soon places her in an untenable position—and ultimately in mortal danger.

ISBN-13: 978-0-618-38043-5

ISBN-10: 0-618-38043-4

EMPRESS ORCHID

"A heart-grabbing novel ... an exotic tale filled with historical insight, richly transporting in its details, and compelling to the end."—
O: The Oprah Magazine

Empress Orchid
is the story of China's infamous last empress, a strong-willed woman who for generations has been vilified as a grand seductress and murderer. Min draws a vivid portrait of a flawed yet utterly compelling woman and, through her life, of the world of the Chinese court and the sexual and political lives of the royal concubines.

ISBN-13: 978-0-618-56203-9

ISBN-10:0-618-56203-6

THE LAST EMPRESS

The Last Empress
is the story of Empress Orchid's dramatic transition from a strong-willed, instinctive young woman to a wise and politically savvy leader. Yearning to step aside, yet growing constantly into her role as ruler, only she can hold the nation's rival factions together.

Houghton Miff in hardcover

ISBN-13: 978-0-618-53146-2

ISBN-10: 0-618-53146-7

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www.marinerbooks.com
.

Anchee Min
was born in Shanghai in 1957. Like her character Wild Ginger, she ardently followed the tenets of Maoism to save her spirit and joined the Red Guards to avoid being attacked. At seventeen she was sent to a labor collective, where after a number of years a talent scout for Madame Mao's Shanghai Film Studio recruited her to work as a propaganda movie actress. She came to the United States in 1984. Min's critically acclaimed novel
Becoming Madame Mao
was a national bestseller. Her 1994 memoir,
Red Azalea,
was named a New York Times Notable Book and was an international bestseller.