“Your truly epic narrative myth calls for bitter experience descending, avalanche-like, down dynasties, incorporating dramatic turning points of ineradicable impact curses looming fates tricky and meddlesome gods feuds sages, sorcerers and wars. Divakaruni’s impulse to flesh out the women of the Mahabharat results in a charming and remarkable book.” (The Houston Chronicle) “Panchaali’s narrative provides a radient entrée into an ancient mythology virtually unknown to the Western world. Divakaruni’s sentences dazzle the images she creates are masterful….” (Los Angeles Times) Who better to attempt the feat of transforming a centuries-old cultural icon into a personal, modern story than Divakaruni, a professor of English at the University of Houston and author of numerous award-winning works, including the luscious novel The Mistress of Spices and the bestselling Sister of my Heart. “The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is as sprawling and bright a gem as the Hope Diamond – a mythic tale brimming with warriors, magic and trachery (and its brother, deceit)…. Whether or not readers are familiar with the Mahabharat epic, they will enjoy this entertaining, insightful and suspenseful story.” (Library Journal, starred review) “A rich tale of passion and love, power and weakness, honor and humiliation. rooted in modern day relevancy.” (Book Page)
“A lyrical tale imbued with the scent of ancient incense yet. “An intimate, feminine portrait that is both contemporary and timeless an ambitious project effectively executed.” (Kirkus) Panchaali is a fiery female voice in a world of warriors, gods, and ever-manipulating hands of fate. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her stratagems to take over control of her household from her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husband’s most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at the brothers’ sides through years of exile and a terrible civil war. The novel traces Panchaali’s life, beginning with her magical birth in fire as the daughter of a king before following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom.
Through her narrator Panchaali, the wife of the legendary five Pandavas brothers, Divakaruni gives us a rare feminist interpretation of an epic story. Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to the time of the Indian epic The Mahabharat-a time that is half-history, half-myth, and wholly magical.
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