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books_backpacks_and_beyond's review against another edition
4.0
Rating - 3.5
The Shadow Princess is the final book in the "Taj Mahal Trilogy" by Indu Sundaresan. It follows the eldest daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan, Jahanara and her struggles as she tries to fill in the shoes of her mother after she dies. After the death of Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan loses all hopes for living and ruling. In these dire circumstances, Jahanara steps up and takes care of not only her father, but also of his estate. Her struggles with her family, with members of the court and her loss, is described in a very moving manner. The author has written the political gossip in the most brilliant manner. The whole scheming and plotting and back-biting are amazingly portrayed and I absolutely loved it. Sympathizing with the characters is very easy. The joy, happiness, love, pain, and betrayal felt by the main character is something that the reader can easily relate to.
Though the story is a third and final book in a series, I felt like it can be read as a standalone and one really doesn't need to read the first two in order to enjoy this one. I liked this one but not as much as I liked the first two books. The story of Meherunissa ends with the second book and we follow new characters in this third one. The court politics is as good as it was in the first two. All in all, this was a very satisfying end to an amazing series.
The Shadow Princess is the final book in the "Taj Mahal Trilogy" by Indu Sundaresan. It follows the eldest daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan, Jahanara and her struggles as she tries to fill in the shoes of her mother after she dies. After the death of Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan loses all hopes for living and ruling. In these dire circumstances, Jahanara steps up and takes care of not only her father, but also of his estate. Her struggles with her family, with members of the court and her loss, is described in a very moving manner. The author has written the political gossip in the most brilliant manner. The whole scheming and plotting and back-biting are amazingly portrayed and I absolutely loved it. Sympathizing with the characters is very easy. The joy, happiness, love, pain, and betrayal felt by the main character is something that the reader can easily relate to.
Though the story is a third and final book in a series, I felt like it can be read as a standalone and one really doesn't need to read the first two in order to enjoy this one. I liked this one but not as much as I liked the first two books. The story of Meherunissa ends with the second book and we follow new characters in this third one. The court politics is as good as it was in the first two. All in all, this was a very satisfying end to an amazing series.
curlyfry6's review against another edition
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thebookishepicure's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
read247_instyle_inca's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting fictional account of the building of the Taj Mahal. I need to reread the first two books now!
dirtdiva's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like it as much as the other two but it did make me want to add India to my bucket list!
ayeshhasrinath's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
emiann2023's review against another edition
4.0
This was a story I've come to know fairly well across multiple retellings, but I enjoyed how the story focused just as much on each of the characters flaws as on their strengths. I didn't necessarily enjoy how much the Taj Mahal was sidelined, when, by all accounts it was a critical and important part of Shah Jahan's reign. Overall though, this was an interesting read and a good conclusion to the trilogy.
anikthink's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
virginiacjacobs's review against another edition
2.0
I LOVED The Twentieth Wife, and I thought The Feast of Roses was good, but Shadow Princess was just slow. It skips a generation and picks up when Empress Mumtaz Mahal dies in childbirth, her husband, Emperor Shah Jahan, decides to build the Taj Mahal for her, and their eldest daughter, Jahanara becomes Shah Jahan's trusted confidant, essentially filling her mother's role.
And then not a whole lot happens. There's not really much discussion of the building of the Taj Mahal, there's a little bit of sibling squabbling, there are a few love affairs, but mostly, this book is about what the rich are eating or wearing, or how they travel throughout the empire, and, actually that's about it.
Until chapter 25, when the war of succession begins.
While I was reading this book, a lot of questions came to mind. For instance, how does the Emperor get all of these riches? What are all of his workers paid? What caused the downfall of India? And what happened to Goharara, the child born when Mumtaz Mahal dies?
I'll start with the fourth question first. Simply, we don't know. Around the age of two, her character makes a reappearance on an elephant as the imperial family is traveling around the empire, but after that, nothing. Maybe she died during her childhood. Maybe she lived a rather uneventful life. Maybe there was simply nothing else mentioned of her in Sundaresan's research.
Basically, and I'm really simplifying this here, but the downfall of India occurred for three reasons. One, and the common fall of empires, is that they simply spent all of the money that previous generations have (through time, the common denominator in the fall of any civilization is a lack of resources of some sort). Secondly, Aurangzeb, who assumed the throne after Shah Jahan, was less tolerant of other religions than both his father and grandfather, and thus he disgruntled a lot of people. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the British came in and took over, as they were wont to do around the world.
Now I'll discuss the first two questions I asked. I don't actually have answers, but I have some ideas. In Mogul India, the Emperor owns everything, and once you die, it reverts to him. Traditionally, he'll divide the holdings among the persons heirs (meaning sons), but not always. So the emperor also owns the gold mines and such. Then there are the taxes. I can't quite figure out this system because the emperor can grant cities to people, and then they collect the taxes, which is their income somehow. And finally, there's lots of exporting of spices.
The book doesn't cover what the masses do, but the imperial family lives extravagantly. My suspicion is that most of their wealth comes from owning everything, and not from taxes, because I doubt the common people are paid very well, and therefore couldn't likely pay a lot of taxes. My two hypotheses are that the value of money was very different then than it is today (I don't mean what the money equals in today's dollars, but more what you could do with it/get for it), or that the trickle-down-effect may actually have worked (although I seriously doubt it.)
Anyway, if you're interested in the time period, Beneath a Marble Sky is a much better read.
And then not a whole lot happens. There's not really much discussion of the building of the Taj Mahal, there's a little bit of sibling squabbling, there are a few love affairs, but mostly, this book is about what the rich are eating or wearing, or how they travel throughout the empire, and, actually that's about it.
Until chapter 25, when the war of succession begins.
While I was reading this book, a lot of questions came to mind. For instance, how does the Emperor get all of these riches? What are all of his workers paid? What caused the downfall of India? And what happened to Goharara, the child born when Mumtaz Mahal dies?
I'll start with the fourth question first. Simply, we don't know. Around the age of two, her character makes a reappearance on an elephant as the imperial family is traveling around the empire, but after that, nothing. Maybe she died during her childhood. Maybe she lived a rather uneventful life. Maybe there was simply nothing else mentioned of her in Sundaresan's research.
Basically, and I'm really simplifying this here, but the downfall of India occurred for three reasons. One, and the common fall of empires, is that they simply spent all of the money that previous generations have (through time, the common denominator in the fall of any civilization is a lack of resources of some sort). Secondly, Aurangzeb, who assumed the throne after Shah Jahan, was less tolerant of other religions than both his father and grandfather, and thus he disgruntled a lot of people. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the British came in and took over, as they were wont to do around the world.
Now I'll discuss the first two questions I asked. I don't actually have answers, but I have some ideas. In Mogul India, the Emperor owns everything, and once you die, it reverts to him. Traditionally, he'll divide the holdings among the persons heirs (meaning sons), but not always. So the emperor also owns the gold mines and such. Then there are the taxes. I can't quite figure out this system because the emperor can grant cities to people, and then they collect the taxes, which is their income somehow. And finally, there's lots of exporting of spices.
The book doesn't cover what the masses do, but the imperial family lives extravagantly. My suspicion is that most of their wealth comes from owning everything, and not from taxes, because I doubt the common people are paid very well, and therefore couldn't likely pay a lot of taxes. My two hypotheses are that the value of money was very different then than it is today (I don't mean what the money equals in today's dollars, but more what you could do with it/get for it), or that the trickle-down-effect may actually have worked (although I seriously doubt it.)
Anyway, if you're interested in the time period, Beneath a Marble Sky is a much better read.