Wild Ginger - Anchee Min [69]
Before leaving us, the footmen carried the coffin to the bank of the Grand Canal so we could see the passing boats, where we might get help. The heat worsened and the air grew still. The smell of decay from the coffin grew stronger. We spent the night under the open sky, tormented by the heat and mosquitoes. My siblings and I could hear one another's stomachs rumbling.
I woke at dawn and heard the clattering of a horse's hooves in the distance. I thought I was dreaming. In no time a rider appeared in front of me. I felt dizzy with fatigue and hunger. The man dismounted and walked straight toward me. Without saying a word he presented me with a package tied with ribbon. He said it was from the taotai of the local town. Startled, I ran to my mother, who opened the package. Inside were three hundred taels of silver.
"The taotai must be a friend of your father's!" Mother cried. With the help of the rider we hired back our footmen. But our good luck didn't last. A few miles down the canal we were stopped by a group of men on horses led by the taotai himself. "A mistake has been made," he said. "My rider delivered the taels to the wrong family."
Hearing this, Mother fell to her knees.
The taotai's men took back the taels.
Exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed me and I fell on my father's coffin.
The taotai walked to the coffin and squatted as if studying the grains of the wood. He was a stocky man with rough features. A moment later he turned to me. I expected him to speak but he didn't.
"You are not a Chinese, are you?" he finally asked. His eyes were on my unbound feet.
"No, sir," I replied. "I am Manchu."
"How old are you? Fifteen?"
"Seventeen."
He nodded. His eyes continued to travel up and down, examining me.
"The road is filled with bandits," he said. "A pretty girl like you should not be walking."
"But my father needs to go home." My tears ran.
The taotai took my hand and placed the silver taels in my palm. "My respects to your father."
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