Taj Trilogy (set of 3)

Author: Indu Sundaresan
Cover: Paperback

Set of 3 books, includes:
1) The Twentieth Wife
Mehrunnisa – one of India’s most legendary and controversial empresses – a woman who overcame insurmountable obstacles through sheer brilliance and determination, whose love shaped the course of the Mughal Empire. She is the twentieth wife. The daughter of refugees from Persia, growing up on the fringes of Emperor Akbar’s opulent palace grounds, Mehrunnisa first encounters Prince Salim on his wedding day. Eight years old at the time, she decides that she too will one day become Salim’s wife – unaware of the great price she and her family will pay for this dream. Skilfully blending the textures of history with the rich imaginings of a fairy tale, The Twentieth Wife sweeps readers up in the emotional pageant of Salim and Mehrunnisa’s embattled love. From an ill-fated first marriage through motherhood and into a dangerous maze of power struggles and political machinations, Mehrunnisa searches for the true redemptive love she has never known. Mehrunnisa’s and Salim’s quest takes them, and the vast empire that hangs in the balance, to places they have never dreamed possible.

2) A Feast of Roses
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.

3) Shadow Princess
The Mughal Empire is crumbling. With the death of his beloved queen Mumtaz, Emperor Shah Jahan slowly loses interest in everything, while his sons conspire and scheme to gain control of the empire. Princess Jahanara is only seventeen when the weight of the imperial zenana is thrust upon her. Shah Jahan’s favourite daughter, she is the most important woman in the harem and is forced to remain at the Mughal court all her life, caught up in the intrigues and power politics of her siblings, sacrificing her own desires for the sake of her father. Rich in detail and atmosphere, this sequel to The Twentieth Wife and The Feast of Roses is another glorious retelling of life in Mughal India.