The release date for the English version of 'The Twentieth Wife' by
Indu Sundaresan is Feb 2003. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
This debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most legendary and controversial empresses—a woman whose brilliance and determination trumped numerous obstacles, and whose love shaped the course of the Mughal empire—in an enthralling seventeenth-century epic of grand passion and adventure.
Her birth occurred in 1577, accompanied by the howling of a fierce winter storm. Her tragic birth in a roadside tent, as the daughter of destitute refugees escaping harsh persecution in Persia, set off a spectacular turnaround of family fortune that culminated in her father's introduction to Emperor Akbar's court. She is referred to as the Sun of Women, Mehrunnisa. Her tale is told here.
Raised on the periphery of the lavish palace grounds of Emperor Akbar, Mehrunnisa develops into a youngster with sapphire eyes, a brilliant beauty, and a strong ambition that transcends the limitations of her family's status. On his wedding day, Mehrunnisa meets little Prince Salim for the first time. Mehrunnisa sees the course of her own fate in that moment, even as a royal banquet celebrating the future emperor's first marriage swirls around her. She resolves with unwavering assurance that she will marry Salim one day. At the tender age of eight, she is completely oblivious to the substantial cost she and her family would incur in pursuit of her ambition.
The Twentieth Wife masterfully combines the rich and sensual imaginations of a timeless fairy tale with the textures of historical reality to engross readers in the emotional spectacle of Salim and Mehrunnisa's troubled love. Indu Sundaresan, a first-time author, masterfully depicts her heroine's captivating journey through the years, from a disastrous first marriage to parenthood and into a perilous web of political intrigue and power conflicts. Through it all, Mehrunnisa and Salim yearn for the real, atoning love they have never had with a ferocious intensity, and in the end, their shared journey leads them—as well as the immense empire that is at stake—to destinations they never would have imagined.
The Twentieth Wife is a gripping story about the incredible power of love that is both a fascinating depiction of one woman's unconventional existence behind the veil and a suspenseful thriller filled with wonder and tension.