She Who Became the Sun

by Shelley Parker-Chan · 2021

In 1345, during the Mongol-ruled famine in China, a peasant girl assumes the identity of her deceased brother, Zhu Chongba, to escape her fated 'nothingness' and claim his destiny of greatness. Disguised as a male novice in a monastery, she navigates a brutal world of war and political ambition, eventually rising through the ranks of a rebellion. Her path to power is challenged by the Mongol general Ouyang, a castrated eunuch driven by his own quest for revenge. This epic reimagining of the rise of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor explores themes of gender identity, survival, and the cost of ambition.