The Sunset Emperor

by Ijen Kim

In the sunset years of China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing, the powerful dowager empress Cixi unexpectedly puts her four-year-old nephew on the throne as the new emperor of China. The Sunset Emperor tells the story of this boy, his struggles with his aunt, corrupt and scheming courtiers, eunuchs and palace women.

Here, we enter the closed and regimented world of the Forbidden City, where the young emperor’s reforms and modernising dreams clash with the old guard with disastrous consequences for all. We follow him through his hopes and disappointments as he navigates intrigue, wars, plots and humiliating flight from foreign invaders. Emperor, reformer, prisoner, loved, hated, praised and belittled, a tumultuous destiny he never chose but tried to shoulder.

Based on thorough study of historical sources and records, The Sunset Emperor is not an invented tale, but offers a vivid and true portrayal of the stormy final decades of imperial China and a unique window onto life in the cloistered and dangerous world behind the palace walls.

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 14, 2020

About the author

I am an author and artist. I am an interpreter by profession and have worked also as a journalist and a translator.
My website is https://ijenkim.wordpress.com/
You can also view my art and poetry at https://www.instagram.com/ijenkim/

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, which is poetic but with plenty of narrative drive. The sad story really got under my skin, I loved the way the author managed to capture the way a child responds to the world, as well as convincingly conveying the adult Guangxu's claustrophobia and frustration. I know next to nothing about Chinese history, so it was a really fascinating insight.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading books but am not so great at writing reviews. I devour a book and often feel bereft when I've finished it, but then I move on to the next book and forget all about writing a review of the one I've just finished reading. So that means my reviews are usually a lot shorter than the detailed lengthy reviews you often find on here. I'm also not sure why Goodreads only gives me the option of reviewing the Kindle Edition of this book - I actually read the good, old-fashioned paperback version! Anyway, enough of my wittering. The Sunset Emperor is a beautifully written historical novel by the author of "The Snuff Bottle Boy" (which I absolutely loved) and really captures the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Forbidden City in the final years of China's last imperial dynasty. So it was quite fitting to be reading this book in the early days of Vienna's COVID-19 lockdown. Ijen Kim has clearly done her research for this book and her passion for China and all things Eastern once again shines through. I love reading books about places I've visited or am planning to travel to. I visited Beijing briefly way back in 2005 and spent a hot and humid afternoon exploring the Forbidden City. This book brought those memories flooding back (so a nice way to travel when you can't actually travel!) and at the time paints a vivid picture of the people who lived there in final days of the dynasty. It's not a period of history I know an awful lot about so the helpful list of Qing emperors with their personal names, era names and reign dates at the front of the book was very helpful! The only reason I give the book four stars not five is that on balance I enjoyed "The Snuff Bottle" even more (but that has more to with my love of Russia and Vienna and interest in North Korea and with my rather ambivalent feelings about modern-day China, than anything to do with the quality of the writing in "The Sunset Emperor"). It's certainly a recommendable read, especially in these days of clipped travel wings. And I'm most intrigued as to where Ijen Kim will be taking us next. Definitely a name to look out for and follow!

[Vic Echegoyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a historical fiction author myself, and an amateur lover of Chinese history, I am always wary of reading fiction and biopics based on Chinese history; this novel was recommended by two people, and as I had already read and enjoyed "The Snuff Bottle Boy" by the same author, which is a family saga also set in China and North Korea, so I began to read this one.... and I couldn´t put it down. It´s such a beautiful book!

It´s a historical novel set in the last decades of imperial China, where the redoubtable Empress Dowager Cixi is one of the main characters and (at last!) her human, suffering, caring side is revealed, instead of the cliché of a decadent, almighty master puppeteer all too often presented by other authors. Marvelously writtten, it reads like a fluid yet deep piece of poetry, lush and sensual at times, painful at others, with extremely well-drawn characters, a thorough understanding and respect of Chinese history, culture and values - and a lovely, restful pace that nevertheless doesn´t sag.

In a word, if you like Chinese fiction and Chinese history, as well as royalty family sagas and psychological novels, this one has it all. It´s intense, highly entertaining, profound and enchanting. Highly recommended!

[Shelley McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sunset Emperor is a beautiful rich tapestry of poetic words woven into creating a truly historical masterpiece. Ijen Kim transports you back in time to China’s last imperial dynasty, The Qing, bringing to life the vivid and true portrayal of the incredible story of a young boy thrust with the sudden responsibility of emperor at a young age by the cold and powerful dowager empress Cixi, and the struggles he faced as he navigated life within the mysterious and often dangerous palace walls of the Forbidden City.
If you loved the Snuff Bottle Boy, also by the same author, you will truly enjoy this one too. A real page turner, full of plots, intrigued and corruption, this captivating tale will forever remain etched within you.

[Jauvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting and well documented novel by the author of The Snuff Bottle Boy, always in the East but this time presenting real caracters and réal historic events