For Adults
The Poet Empress by Shen Tao is the first book to be featured this season on the Sara Cox Radio 2 Book Club—a sensational debut that enthrals with its fierce meditation on love, power, and survival through art.
You can listen to the live interview with Shen on BBC Sounds from 13 January.
We have the chance for you to win a set of 10 copies of this novel for your book club. To apply, click on the survey link below. UK residents only, deadline for entries 28 January 2026.
Not yet a member of Book Club Hub? Sign up now.
The Poet Empress
oung rice farmer Yin Wei was forced to become concubine to Prince Guan Terren – a monstrous wielder of poetry magic, and heir to the Azalea throne – to save her family from the famine blighting the land of Tensha.
Now confined to the imperial court, Terren’s cruelty is not the only danger Wei faces. He and his honourable older brother are locked in a deadly succession war, while Terren’s thirty concubines are fighting a war of their own, for the position of future empress.
To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself – even if it means learning the one forbidden poem that can kill Terren and save both herself and the nation.
But there’s a problem – for the spell to work against a man she hates, it must be written with love.
How to apply
To apply, fill in this survey by 28 January.
