Product Description

'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' - Chitra Divakaruni In this lush and romantic sequel to The Twentieth Wife, Mehrunnisa, the first woman Jahangir marries for love, is now Empress Nur Jahan. As a mark of his love, he transfers his powers of sovereignty to her. But she has a formidable rival in the imperial harem, Empress Jagat Gosisni, who has plotted against her from the moment she entered the emperor's life. Beyond the harem walls, she battles powerful ministers who aren't willing to allow a mere woman to have a say in the outside world. Defying all established norms of womanhood in seventeenth-century India, Mehrunnisa combats her rivals by forming a junta of sorts with the three men she can rely on her father, her brother, and Jahangir's son Prince Khurram. She demonstrates great strength of character and cunning to get what she wants, sometimes at great personal cost, even almost losing her daughter's love. But she never loses the love of the man who bestows this power upon her: Emperor Jahangir.

About the Author

Indu Sundaresan

Indu Sundaresan was born and brought up in India, on Air Force bases around the country. Her father, a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force, was also an avid storyteller--as was his father, Indu's grandfather. She grew up on their stories on various themes--Hindu mythology and fictional tales of an elephant and a horse living in the wilderness.

She came to the U.S. for graduate school at the University of Delaware and has two degrees; an M.S. in operations research and an M.A. in economics. But, the storytelling gene beckoned and she began writing soon after graduate school.

The Twentieth Wife (2002), based on the life of Mehrunnisa, Empress Nur Jahan, is the tale of one of India's most powerful women. This was her first published novel, but the third one she wrote--the first two still languish on the hard drive of some forgotten old computer and are never to be revived; they were practice runs and taught her how to write a novel.

She is the author of five books so far. The Twentieth Wife (2002); The Feast of Roses (2003); The Splendor of Silence (2006); In the Convent of Little Flowers (2008) and Shadow Princess (2010).