Peach Blossom Pavilion (Paperback)

~ Mingmei Yip (Author)
Key Phrases: qing zhen, red jade, infinite emptiness, Xiang Xiang, Peach Blossom Pavilion, Teng Xiong (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this disappointing courtesan novel, a 98-year-old Chinese émigré woman in present-day San Francisco reviews her youth in early 20th-century China, where she was a ming ji, or "prestigious prostitute." Falsely accused of rape and murder, Xiang Xiang's father is executed, and her mother retreats into a Buddhist nunnery. Xiang Xiang, alone and friendless at 13, is tricked into entering the Peach Blossom Pavilion, where she is given the "art name" of Bao Lan, or "Precious Orchid." Her extraordinary beauty and gifts in painting, writing poems and performing music, and in the bedchamber, make her a prize. After some improbable adventures (including a liaison with a female transvestite and a love affair with a Taoist monk), Xiang Xiang eventually makes her peace with what fate has made of her-just as the Japanese invade China. While Xiang Xiang's forthright perceptiveness, grace and smarts are intriguing, Yip's English language debut vacillates between melodrama and fictionalized sociological study. That split personality is reflected in the clunky prose, which never does its lead justice.
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Review

Mingmei Yip has written an enchanting debut novel "Peach Blossom Pavilion" which tells the story of the last surviving Chinese courtesan (prostitute), Precious Orchid, the most sought-after woman in all of China. Just as Arthur Golden's novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" introduced readers to the Japanese geisha tradition nearly a decade ago, Peach Blossom Pavilion provides a vivid account of a forgotten history, immersed in Chinese culture of the early 1990's, by transporting us to another place and time where prostitutes were glamorous, elegant and cultured women that were well-versed in the arts. --Asiance Magazine, June 1, 2008

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; Advance Reading Copy (ARC) edition (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758220146
• ISBN-13: 978-0758220141
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #538,066 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good read, January 4, 2009

By	Jayne (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews

First, the Publisher's Weekly review is disappointingly inaccurate.

Second, this was a truly enjoyable read. The story kept my attention throughout and the last 1/4 of the book was exciting and filled with surprises. I had a hard time putting it down to go to sleep! Recommend highly.

I'd like to suggest that "reviewers" kindly omit important plot twists for those of us who like to read reviews before they purchase. Thanks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars could not put it down, December 18, 2008

By	Janet Straightarrow "Be the Medicine" (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How interesting...all of the reviews.I was entranced from the first moment. I bought the book directly from the author at a writers conference in June.
In between classes and writing I read this book tucked away in the window seat of my room overlooking the campus. Each day I digested each part of the story. I could not wait to see what the next part opened me to and I did not want it to end.
As a healer and therapist I was not surprised by the relationships and possibilities of how the charachters were motivated and lived.We do some pretty outrageous things a s people in this world.Not an easy life and not always pleasant. I loved learning more about the culture. The twists and turns of the story kept me reading. I learned, was entertained and enjoyed.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best book in a long time, July 9, 2008

By	Victoria Freitas (kaneohe, hi United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having read a review in the Sunday paper I asked my wife to buy the book for me. (Hence, this review is under her name.) I'm glad she did. This was one of the best novels I have read in ages. This was a "no put down" book. I devoured all 421 pages of this fascinating novel in four readings. Ming Mei Yip's writing style and the story that unfolded from her pen had me spell bound the entire time.

"Peach Blossom Pavilion" is the story of the ten year adventure of the principal character, Xiang Xiang (Precious Orchid). It starts with Xiang Xiang being given up by her mother as a innocent 13 year old imp to the surprised harsh life in the Peach Blossom Pavilion. She quickly gains the status of a favored courtesan in early 1900 China. We are taken on a stunning ride of all the characters that enter her life and the peaks and valleys she endures and eventually her quest for revenge and to escape the life of dare I say, a "whore".

Upon reading the book to its end the reader will come to realize that there is more to be told and will be left begging for more. A sequel is a must. Truly worthy of a TV mini series.