Indu Sundaresan

Sundaresan weaves a vivid and brutal tapestry of noble life during the Mughal Empire (northern India through Pakistan and a chunk of Afghanistan circa 1600). Building upon available accounts from the time period, we learn of Mehrunnisa who eventually becomes Emperor Jahangir's twentieth and final wife at an unconventional 34 years old. Not realizing this was part of a series (why I'm currently in the middle of so many, waaaaaaah) and being ignorant of this history, I'm eager to obtain the show more next installment where she becomes Empress Nur Jahan (Light of the World) and rules one of India's largest and most powerful dynasties from behind a veil. Can't get the harem's assault of color and brilliance tinged with decay scrubbed from behind my eyelids - has someone written a story about a forgotten concubine (neither smut nor a tale of rising from that station)? show less

Mehrunnisa is born when her family’s fortunes are at their lowest. They’ve fled Persia and barely have enough money to make the trip to India. They don’t know where their next meal is coming from. A kind stranger helps them on their way and their fortunes improve.

Mehrunnisa comes to the attention of the emperor’s favorite wife as a child. Beautiful, intelligent, and witty, her charms only increase as she grows into womanhood, so that even the heir to the throne of the Mughul Empire show more notices her.

I’ve struggled a little lately with a bit of a reading slump. I can usually break out of those by reading a few quick fantasies. This book should not have worked for me right now but it absolutely did.

I know very little Indian history so I didn’t know anything about this emperor, his wives, or even this period in time (early 1600s). It was tumultuous, to say the least. Sons plot against their fathers to take thrones, Portuguese Jesuits are looking for Catholic converts and exclusive trading rights, English traders are trying to establish their own trade routes, and nearby kingdoms are testing the emperor as a matter of course. And that doesn’t even include the intrigue in the zenana (What I would think of as the harem, correctly or not). My ignorance meant that I was never sure what was going to happen next so I kept listening in every spare moment, eager to see what happened next.

In many ways, fortune smiles on Mehrunnisa but I could also argue that she’s cursed. Either way, her life is never dull. The author presents her as a woman who wants to determine her own fate and who’s largely driven by love and desire. But she’s clever and calculating too. I occasionally wondered which side was governing her behavior. She was realistically complex.

The rich details, foreign setting, and unfamiliar culture of this book made me feel lost in a different place and time. I could practically smell the exotic food, hear the tinkling bangles, and feel the sweltering heat as I listened. Those same details may bog the pace down for some readers though.

Sneha Mathan’s beautiful voice and soft, musical accent made her narration outstanding. I just added every available work she’s read to my library to-read list.

Readers who want to be transported to a different time and place and who don’t mind a slow pace will enjoy this one. I especially recommend the audiobook. I’ll be listening to the rest of the series soon.

My apologies for any misspellings in this review. The wonderful thing about listening to an audiobook with unfamiliar names and words is that I know how they’re pronounced; on the flip side, I don’t know how to spell them. show less

The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love books that transport me back in time. Add in an exotic foreign land and I'm hooked. The Twentieth Wife (The Taj Mahal Trilogy, Book One) enchanted me from the first page. This book is an interesting education about the power of love.

Women still have a long way to go yet to achieving full equality with men. However, it would be too easy to look at The Twentieth Wife as only an example of our historic inequality. I hope show more perceptive readers will see that there is so much more in this history of how one woman loved one man.

For example, it also shows us that there is more than one way to achieve power. Even in the 16th century a few women played a critical role in foreign-policy, world economics, and how to run a country. They should be remembered as our heroes. For it is with their history that we learned that women have always been strong enough to achieve their goals. Certainly, history will remember Mehrunnisa for her beauty. However, Indu Sundaresan has shown us that this classically graceful woman was strong in her values, her love for one man, and her ambitions.

I'm looking forward to reading the other two books in this trilogy as Sundaresan is an amazing storyteller. She brings historical figures alive as well as their culture. While my circumstances prevent me from traveling to India, Sundaresan successfully transported me there and gave me a look into the country's history unlike any other tour guide could.

The other Taj Mahal Trilogy books are:
- The Feast of Roses, Book Two
- Shadow Princess, Book Three



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My initial interest in this book came about through my love of Karen Finneyfrock's poetry, but it grew once I learned that this book was created as a part of The Novel: Live. The project was an attempt to have 36 writers take part in a week-long writing marathon live on stage, in which the story would be passed from writer to writer and result in a complete novel. Hotel Angeline is the result of those efforts.

Due to the nature of its creation, there are some holes in the plot here and there show more and some slight disjointedness, and you definitely get a taste of each writer's style (one author presented their chapter in comic book format), which was most recognizable in the dialog. But I was surprised by just how coherent the story is. Each chapter is by a different author and most are written from Alexis' point of view, but her character remained consistent. She's a girl caught up in the madness of her situation, who becomes very lost very quickly.

There are a slew of interesting characters, including a woman who lives as a pirate, Habib the rave, LJ the not-all-there hippy, and many more. If you ignore the unique process of creation, you still have a good story thats twists into surprising and unexpected directions with an unlimately satisfying conclusion. A good read. show less