The Feast of Roses
By Indu Sundaresan
(Washington Square Press, Paperback, 9780743456418, 416pp.)
Publication Date: May 18, 2004
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Audio Cassette, Compact Disc, MP3 CD
Categories: Historical - General, Romance - Historical
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The love story of Emperor Jahangir and Mehrunnisa, begun in the critically praised debut novel The Twentieth Wife, continues in Indu Sundaresan's lush second novel, The Feast of Roses. Here, Mehrunnisa comes into Jahangir's harem as his twentieth and last wife. This time Jahangir has married for love, and members of his court are worried that Mehrunnisa could exert control over their futures. Their concerns are well founded.
Mehrunnisa soon becomes the most powerful woman in the Mughal Empire in spite of a formidable rival in the imperial harem who has schemed and plotted against her from the start. She rules from behind the veil, securing her status by forming a junta of sorts with her father, brother, and stepson -- and risking it all, even her daughter, to get what she wants. But she never loses the love of the man who bestows this power upon her....
Indu Sundaresan was born in India and grew up on Air Force bases all over the country. Her father, a fighter pilot, was also a storyteller—managing to keep his audiences captive and rapt with his flair for drama and timing. He got this from his father, Indu's grandfather, whose visits were always eagerly awaited. Sundaresan’s love of stories comes from both of them, from hearing their stories based on imagination and rich Hindu mythology, and from her father's writings.
After an undergraduate degree in economics from India, Sundaresan came to the U.S. for graduate school at the University of Delaware and has an MS in operations research and an MA in economics. But all too soon, the storytelling gene beckoned.
The Twentieth Wife, Sundaresan’s first novel, won the 2003 Washington State Book Award. Her second novel, The Feast of Roses, is a sequel to the first and continues the story of Mehrunnisa, Empress Nur Jahan’s life as the most powerful woman of the Mughal dynasty that ruled India.
The Seattle Times Rich and realistic....A delicious story.
Chitra Divakaruni Author of Mistress of Spices and Unknown Errors of Our Lives Indu Sundaresan has written a fascinating novel about a fascinating time, and has brought it alive with characters that are at once human and legendary, that move with grace and panache across the brilliant stage she has reconstructed for them.
Chicago Tribune Good old-fashioned historical fiction....Full of jeweled beauties and crumbling ruins, [The Twentieth Wife] satisfies every craving for the pomp and mystery of India's past.
USA Today Sundaresan is a gifted storyteller with an obvious passion for history.
Marilyn Yalom Author of A History of the Wife and A History of the Breast This epic tale...is informative, convincing, and madly entertaining.
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