The Twentieth Wife: A Novel

Transport yourself to a time long ago, an era of emperors, palaces, intrigue, and deceit. A story of a common woman, her family exiled from Persia, aspiring to power in the Mughal Empire. Indu Sundaresan spins a tale of myth and legend woven with historical fact and memoir, a story that reeled me in and I couldn't put it down! If you've curiously pondered the wonders of India and long-ago lore...step into a tale of love, mystery, and devotion that eventually resulted in the reality of the Taj Mahal. You'll want the sequel to this book, The Feast of Roses, because The Twentieth Wife winds up to a punch of a cliff-hanger and leaves you hanging. The story takes off to new proportions in the Feast of Roses!

This historical novel is based on facts of the late 16th and early 17th century rule of the Mughal Empire in India. The main character, Mahrunnisa, was real - a woman who married the Emperor when she was no longer young, and who then ruled the Empire with him. The story is sweeping and romantic. To be honest, I read the first 50 pages of the book and decided not to read any more. It seemed formulaic at first. And I also have a politically correct streak in me about books always being written about empires rather than common people. And so I put the book in my give-away pile. Then I went to sleep and when I woke up I was thinking about the story. And so, I raced home that evening, picked up the book, and read another 150 pages at once, gobbling the book up in big chunks until I had thoroughly read and enjoyed all 396 pages. What a book! What a story! What an interesting history lesson! The Mughal Empire was so vast and so rich that it was inevitable that there would be lots of in-fighting for the throne. The Empire had a harem but only one of his sons could be Emperor. Competition was ugly. Wars were fought. Lives were lost. There was splendor and love and plain old fashioned good storytelling with the violence real but understated, as was the romance. I was totally captivated. I loved it the book so much I am ordering the sequel. Can't wait to read it.

I enjoy reading many different genres, but historical fiction is one of my favorites......and lately, the cultures of India, Sudan, and any of the countries in that exotic section of this wonderful world seems to satisfy my reading addiction. THE TWENTIETH WIFE is a rich, exotic view of the women, their desires, and females' position in society in the Mughal Empire of 1600's India. I could "feel" India as I read the story of Menhurrisa. This girl knew what she wanted at the early age of 8 and kept her focus on the love for a man she first saw in a parade. Almost all woman in that era would consider love for a man like this unattainable..........royalty above her class. This was a book that I couldn't get enough of. I looked forward to the next page at all times. I enjoy reading a book that takes me mentally to another time and place. By reading this book, I learned a lot about the ancient 17th century Indian cultures of women and harem life, which had a class system of its own that the women had to deal with. I highly recommend reading this book if you like historical fiction or if you enjoy reading a story of a strong woman who believes in herself and beats all odds to attain her desires. I read this book about 2 1/2 years ago and the story has stayed in my memory. I bought the sequel, THE FEAST OF ROSES, last year and plan on reading it as soon as I finish the historical fiction novel that I am now reading set in 1500 England. If you are looking for an awesome book, and very good historical fiction with surprising twists and turns spiced with a whole lot of action......this is a book you will truly devour. I highly recommend this read. B Harris

Indu Sundaresan's The Twentieth Wife claimed my attention in a way that books rarely do. From the beginning I was vested in the characters, but even more strongly, in the time and place in which they live. The details are astonishing in their complexity, and Sundaresan is equally at home portraying the harsh conditions of a nomadic existence or the opulence of palace life. She has a gift for creating a sense of "place," and originating from that "place," her characters are memorable and compelling. Finishing the book, I felt as if I'd taken a journey, one both vivid and memorable.

Sundaresan's novel draws a vivid and colorful picture of 17th century India under the Mughal rule. The underlying theme of the seemingly faceless, mute and therefore mysterious mughal women wielding power over the monarchy by the force of their love provides an enthralling story line. The descriptions of the Mina Bazar, a market solely for the women belonging to the Royal harem to be able to move freely without being veiled, drives home the extremely cloistered life these women lived, where once they enter the zenana, neither do they see any man other than the king for the rest of their lives, nor does any male not of immediate family ever catch a glimpse of them. The wealth of detailed descriptions of the lifestyle, locale and time, helps provide a fertile imagination with a clear picture of life in India during the 17th century. This story about Mehrunissa, who broke all the established customs of that time, who, at the age of 34 (when women were discarded as old and useless) managed to capture the King's fancy to the extent that he married her as his twentieth wife holds the reader enthralled until the finale. Though this book is a fictionalized version of Indian history in the 17th century, most events are accurately recorded, showing that the author has done her homework! A must-read gripping tale of love and hate, desire and ambition, treachery and debauchery.