A review by cappuccino136
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
A princess from the Northern kingdom it sent to marry the Emperor in the South to provide an heir with ties to the North to keep a tenuous peace. She is never accepted at the court and as soon as her duty is fulfilled she is exiled to a house imprisonment in a far corner of the kingdom. Rabbit, also originally from the Northern kingdom, is sent with her as her servant and becomes fiercely close and loyal to her. Years later, a monk, Chih, is traveling through and meets Rabbit as an elderly woman. She wants to share the story of the Empress and her years in exile for the Monk to take back and keep in the Monastary's library.
Beautiful prose. Wonderful depth of storytelling in a short work. Emotional themes. Tense politics. I loved it. This is the first in the Singing Hills Cycle following the cleric monk Chih. They can be read in any order. It is not one overarching story.
Beautiful prose. Wonderful depth of storytelling in a short work. Emotional themes. Tense politics. I loved it. This is the first in the Singing Hills Cycle following the cleric monk Chih. They can be read in any order. It is not one overarching story.