Anchee Min was born in Shanghai in 1957. At seventeen she was sent to
a labour collective, where a talent scout for Madame Mao's Shanghai
Film Studio recruited her to work as a movie actress. She moved to the
United States in 1984.
Her memoir, Red Azalea, was an international bestseller with rights sold in twenty countries. Her novels, Becoming Madame Mao, Katherine, Wild Ginger and Empress Orchid were published to wonderful reviews and impressive foreign sales.