Day 14,449: The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

This was the perfect book for me to get lost in over the weekend. I am a big fan of Divakaruni's novels and was really excited to find she had published a new book. She is really good at mixing stories that are part myth and part fiction, with a little magic stirred in to make things interesting.

The Palace of Illusions is a retelling of the Indian epic The Mahabharat told from a woman's point of view. It follows the story of Panchaali's life from birth to end. More and more I am enjoying books that have this vein running through them that the female protagonist questions a woman's place in the world (see Peony in Love below) and what is deemed appropriate and non-appropriate for them.

I think this consciousness of modern author's to put these questions in the minds of their protagonists is an interesting temperature gauge of the current state of feminism. No longer is feminism just about a stereotypical 1970s man-hating movement making demands of the world. It seems that feminism is moving to a place where women are saying, "OK, we are here, but where are we exactly and what is our place now?" At least in our literature. Or perhaps through these stories set in an older time, the authors are just showing the first wisps of dissent among the ranks of women in a man's world? I am no literary critic by any stretch of the imagination, I just know that I really enjoy reading about women who go against the norms of their times to go on to become legends in other women's minds.

It totally reminds me of being in 2nd grade and when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told them I wanted to be a veterinarian...not a housewife or mom like the other little girls. Even when I finally did get married, it wasn't about My Day with a whole production of white tulle, doves and lace. It was just about my commitment to the person I chose to be my husband and his commitment to me. We ended up running off to City Hall in NYC after both sides of the family started to plan A Proper Wedding for us. I was very Miranda (and Steve) about the whole thing. Whoa, I'm totally digressing here and I'm referencing SATC again. Oy!

Anyway, it was a really good read and if you want to get lost in a new mashup of a great Indian epic..this is the book for you. If you want a sneak preview, I believe Chapter 1 is available online here.

read/skim/skip