Keen to learn more about inclusive workplaces? Want to be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community? Learn more & request an invitation for a very special 2-hour session here!
Well-paced and well-written, Indu Sundaresan's Shadow Princess is a historical novel set in the Mughal period, and told through a woman’s perspective.
Well-paced and well-written, Indu Sundaresan’s Shadow Princess is a historical novel set in the Mughal period, and told through a woman’s perspective.
By Priyanka Chaturvedi
Indu Sundaresan’s Shadow Princess is an exciting sequel to the The Twentieth Wife and The Feast of Roses. While The twentieth Wife was about Noor Jahan and The Feast of Roses about Mumtaz Mahal, this book revolves around Princess Jahanara. It is yet another glorious retelling of life in Mughal India during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. The story starts from the year 1631 at Burhampur in Deccan India; that is where the Royal camp of Emperor Shah Jahan is. While The Emperor is busy directing the conquest of the Deccan from Burhampur fort in order to gain supremacy in Southern India, his beloved queen, 38 year old Mumtaz Mahal, or the Exalted One dies while giving birth to their 14th child in the 19 years of their marriage. That incident acts as a trigger to the crumbling of the Mughal Empire. With the death of his beloved wife, the Emperor slowly loses interest in everything, while his sons conspire and scheme to gain control of the empire.
Princess Jahanara, who is the eldest daughter of the Emperor, is only 17 year old when she has to take charge of the imperial zenana (harem) after her mother’s death. She becomes the most important woman in the harem and is forced to remain at the Mughal court all her life, caught up in the intrigues and the power politics of her siblings, sacrificing her own desires for the sake of her father. This book is essentially Princess Jahanara’s story. Jahanara was her father’s favourite child and he always felt that she was the most capable of all his children but belonged to the wrong sex.
The author manages to weave the story so interestingly that it manages to give the reader an in-depth understanding of the golden period of the Mughal era and the life of the royal family. If historical fiction interests you this book would be the right pick. A well-paced, well-written story of the Mughal dynasty through a woman’s perspective, the book’s appeal is not surprising given that her previous titles are also an absolute must read.
Publisher: Harper Collins
If you’re planning to purchase Shadow Princess by Indu Sundaresan, do consider buying it through this Women’s Web affiliate link at Flipkart. We get a small share of the proceeds – every little bit will help us continue bringing you the content you like!
Readers outside India can purchase Shadow Princess through our affiliate link at Amazon.
Guest Bloggers are those who want to share their ideas/experiences, but do not have a profile here. Write to us at [email protected] if you have a special situation (for e.g. want read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, indivisual posts do not necessarily represent the platofrom's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Dushyanta clearly remembered everything. But he didn't have any intention to accept a poor woman from a remote hermitage as his wife and her son as theirs.
Dushyanta clearly remembered everything. But he didn’t have any intention to accept a poor woman from a remote hermitage as his wife and her son as theirs.
She sat motionless on the royal bed, her knees drawn up to her chin, staring vacantly outside the palace window.
She was sheathed in exquisite scarlet red silk, shot through with golden threads forming intricate traditional patterns. Chests of gems and jewellery were strewn all over the bed. The maids were fussing over whether a diamond-studded necklace would suit their queen or a gold choker would look better. Another younger maid was arranging her tresses in a coiffeur.
Actor Siddharth sent out a distasteful tweet in response to a tweet by Saina Nehwal, in what he thought were clever words, but this slur on any woman is not acceptable.
Trust me when I say I’ve run out of patience in stopping myself from calling this ‘liberal’, self-proclaimed feminist actor out umpteen times in the past.
Let me count them out for you.
An Unfinished Song by Swarnakumari Debi Ghosal revolves around a young Bengali girl in the process of discovering herself amidst a gradually changing India.
The Early Indian Women Writers series reviews a few remarkable books by Indian women from the 1900 – 1950 period.
Review by Sunayana Roy
Interview with Priyamvada Purushotham, author of The Purple Line.
Priyamvada Purushotham’s debut novel The Purple Line is a bold exploration of womanhood. The story revolves around a gynaecologist, who finds a deeper meaning in her own life through the intertwined lives and loves of six of her patients.
If you had not become a writer, what would you have been?