Min, Anchee

The sequel to Anchee Min's memoir "Red Azalea," in which she comes to America to find her way, her voice, and her love.

A fictional account of the life of Tsu Hsi, known as Empress Orchid, telling of her rise to power in China, and the political skills that allowed her to remain in a position of leadership for more than four decades.

Tzu Hsi, otherwise known as Orchid, becomes the lover, and eventually the wife of the king, and after a coup that deposes her husband, she is left in charge of a troubled country until her son comes of age.

The author takes on the identity of Madame Mao, wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong, presenting her as insecure and in need of love instead of simply vindictive and cruel, and uses historical facts, characters, and documents to tell her story.

A first-hand account by Anchee Min of living in China under Mao who led the nation with cruel oppression. She never experiences a genuine childhood during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. She was compelled to betray her favorite teacher, and to become a peasant worker where she was later humiliated.

A fictional account of the lifelong friendship between Willow, a young Chinese girl, and Pearl, the daughter of Christian missionaries who would become the celebrated author, Pearl S. Buck. Young Pearl and Willow become friends in a small southern China town and share their experiences of growing up, love, and motherhood. When civil war erupts, Pearl is forced to leave the country while Willow's "imperialist" ties threaten her safety in Mao's regime. Though a world apart, the two women remain friends.

A memoir from a one-time supporter of the Maoist regime who experienced life in China as a member of the communist party and as a political prisoner on a labor farm.

A tale based on the life of novelist Pearl S. Buck follows her as she grows up in late-nineteenth-century China; befriends Willow, a Chinese peasant girl; and with Willow shares life's joys and sorrows, despite the Communist revolution.