EMPRESS DOWAGER CIXI The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

Jolene Kim brings just the right tone to this book about nineteenth-century Chinese history. She pronounces Chinese names and phrases with a Mandarin accent that adds to the atmosphere. But her skilled reading cannot overcome the author's sometimes stilted writing. This is a book written for the eye, not the ear. The writing style may be due to the fact the author, currently a British resident, was born in China. The book tells the fascinating story of how a bright but initially illiterate concubine is able to rule through her young son and effect a transformation in China. Listeners will come away with a better understanding of China as it prepared to enter the twentieth century. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2013]