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How long does it take to read Imperial Woman?

Pearl S. Buck, Kirsten Potter

Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck, Kirsten Potter takes about 7 hours 22 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 7 hours 22 minutes

A weekend read

First published 1955. 402 pages, about 110,550 words.

15 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 12 hours 17 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 7 hours 22 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 4 hours 36 minutes

The page count is the median across 33 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

Imperial Woman is the fictionalized biography of the last Empress in China, Ci-xi, who began as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor and on his death became the de facto head of the Qing Dynasty until her death in 1908.Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rulers during a time of intense turbulence.Tzu Hsi was born into one of the lowly ranks of the Imperial dynasty. According to custom, she moved to the Forbidden City at the age of seventeen to become one of hundreds of concubines. But her singular beauty and powers of manipulation quickly moved her into the position of Second Consort.Tzu Hsi was feared and hated by many in the court, but adored by the people. The Empress's rise to power (even during her husband's life) parallels the story of China's transition from the ancient to the modern way.

Subjects: Fiction, biographical, Fiction, historical, general, China, fiction, Fiction, Empresses, History

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