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Twentieth Wife

Library Edition

By Indu Sundaresan

(9)

| Audio CD | 9780786159420

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Book Description

An enchanting seventeenth-century epic of grand passion and adventure, this debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most legendary and controversial empresses -- a woman whose brilliance and determination trumped myriad obstacles, and whose love shaped the course of the Mughal Continue

An enchanting seventeenth-century epic of grand passion and adventure, this debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most legendary and controversial empresses -- a woman whose brilliance and determination trumped myriad obstacles, and whose love shaped the course of the Mughal empire.

She came into the world in the year 1577, to the howling accompaniment of a ferocious winter storm. As the daughter of starving refugees fleeing violent persecution in Persia, her fateful birth in a roadside tent sparked a miraculous reversal of family fortune, culminating in her father's introduction to the court of Emperor Akbar. She is called Mehrunnisa, the Sun of Women. This is her story.

Growing up on the fringes of Emperor Akbar's opulent palace grounds, Mehrunnisa blossoms into a sapphire-eyed child blessed with a precocious intelligence, luminous beauty, and a powerful ambition far surpassing the bounds of her family's station. Mehrunnisa first encounters young Prince Salim on his wedding day. In that instant, even as a royal gala swirls around her in celebration of the future emperor's first marriage, Mehrunnisa foresees the path of her own destiny. One day, she decides with uncompromising surety, she too will become Salim's wife. She is all of eight years old -- and wholly unaware of the great price she and her family will pay for this dream.

Skillfully blending the textures of historical reality with the rich and sensuous imaginings of a timeless fairy tale, The Twentieth Wife sweeps readers up in the emotional pageant of Salim and Mehrunnisa's embattled love. First-time novelist Indu Sundaresan charts her heroine's enthralling journey across the years, from an ill-fated first marriage through motherhood and into a dangerous maze of power struggles and political machinations. Through it all, Mehrunnisa and Salim long with fiery intensity for the true, redemptive love they've never known -- and their mutual quest ultimately takes them, and the vast empire that hangs in the balance, to places they never dreamed possible.

Shot through with wonder and suspense, The Twentieth Wife is at once a fascinating portrait of one woman's convention-defying life behind the veil and a transporting saga of the astonishing potency of love.

Critics

  • The Best Reviews: Indu Sundaresan, The Twentieth Wife

    "Good research but needs more romance" Though too young and way beneath his station, Mehrunnisa, the daughter of a Persian courtier to the Mughal Empire, plans to one day wed the heir apparent to the throne Salim. The very intelligent eight-year-old ... (read full critics)

    thebestreviews published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

  • The Twentieth Wife: A Novel

    The Twentieth Wife Indu Sundaresan Washington Square Press Paperback 416 pages February 2003 The kings and queens of India, like the great potentates of many eastern countries, are unknown to most North Americans. Those rulers known to Westerners are ... (read full critics)

    curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

2 Reviews

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  • Wonderful descriptive writing- full of vivid details.
    So many details about the surroundings, settings and the history of the times that the characters lack a bit of depth.... But I enjoyed the story and will read the sequel.

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    Nini said on May 27, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • The writing is decent but I wasn't crazy about the story - but I guess when you are dealing with real people, you are sort of locked into having them do what they have already done in their lives :P

    Is this helpful?

    Deanna Kyre said on Aug 10, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

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ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780786159420 Audio CD $108.00 $97.20 bn.com
$108.00 -- The Book Depository
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