This is Indu Sundaresan's first novel, and I have to say, damn good for a first! The story is based on real people and events, and is enhanced by Sundaresan's romantic imagination. The descriptions bring you to India in 1600. The writing is smart, fun and captivating.



The story is about Mehrunissa, the daughter of refugees, who's family climbs the social ladder. At age 8, she finds herself mesmerized by Salim, the future heir to the throne. She immediately thinks he is beautiful and later develop

This is Indu Sundaresan's first novel, and I have to say, damn good for a first! The story is based on real people and events, and is enhanced by Sundaresan's romantic imagination. The descriptions bring you to India in 1600. The writing is smart, fun and captivating.



The story is about Mehrunissa, the daughter of refugees, who's family climbs the social ladder. At age 8, she finds herself mesmerized by Salim, the future heir to the throne. She immediately thinks he is beautiful and later develops feelings for him, and through the years she dreams of becoming one of his wives. She is enthralled by the power struggles within the harem and learns to make the right alliances. Even if the alliance parties have their own agendas for befriending her. Salim's feelings for her are also very interesting. While reading other scenes I was looking forward to their next meeting. Mehrunissa was a real pip. Definitely a woman ahead of her time. She transcends from a child in a poor family, who cannot afford to feed her, to one of the most powerful women



I am amazed at the kind of research that must have been put in to write this kind of work. I enjoyed reading this book though some romantic scene felt too filmy. The author introduces us to the 16th century Mughals in India and how the women were treated. In the world of Emperor & his royal harem filled with wives, concubines and female slaves who are always veiled and hidden behind the walls who were always prepare to please the emperor. They all were engaged in harem politics to hold their positions. Nisa fascinated me and I thought her a strong woman for the times. After all, it cannot be easy to attract the Emperor so much for so long when he has 300 women at his disposal.



I have mixed feelings after finishing this book Nisa becomes the Twentieth Wife at the last page and for the first 80 percent of the book, Jehangir and Mehrunissa haven't had a decent conversation. In fact, they 'meet' only 3 or 4 times before Mehrunissa gets married to someone else and moves away for more than 15 years, i.e. why this legendary love story doesn't make sense to me.



Indu has chosen such a topic for her novel that is not very common in the history of fiction. To know the historical characters we do have to rely upon the history books or documents preserved in the libraries. That too sometimes seems boring. But Indu has taken the boring and tough job and made her way to that bygone era. The novel is a work of fiction but very much ground to historical realities. Sometimes Indu has taken literal liberties but that are too to suit her purpose of writing.



The novel undoubtedly is a masterpiece having a few technical and historical faults in it. Though it is a work of fiction but it has a strong base to the historical realities. Indu has deliberately and consciously avoided the birth-mother of Jahangir denying her even a small place in the novel. May be as it was Ruqaiyya (Akbar's cousin and wife)who had more influence on Mehrunnisa. The descriptions are detailed but sometime this detailing brings monotony in reading. Indu has used very less almost nothing of the Urdu language in her writing which was a prominent language in the Mughal India. But that she has done a marvellous and vivid research to write her book . To know Mughal history in a regular way there are many ways for it. But if one wants to explore it in a fascinating and fictional way, Indu Sundaresan has already provided us the contrivance in the shape of ‘The Twentieth Wife’.