Empress

A softcover first printing edition in very good condition. Covers are clean and unmarked. Pages are clean and bright throughout, free of marks or annotations. Empress was originally published in France as Impératrice by Albin Michel in 2003, winning the Prix des lecteurs du Livre de Poche in 2005. The first US hardcover edition was published by HarperCollins in 2006 and reissued in 2009. Written by Shan Sa, a Beijing-born author who writes in French, the novel brings to life the extraordinary story of Wu Zetian, who rose from imperial concubine to become the only woman in Chinese history to rule as Empress in her own right during the Tang Dynasty. Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter, an award-winning British translator, winner of the Scott Moncrieff Prize, and the French-American Foundation Translation Prize.