A review by anushkamarri
The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

 

When this book was doing rounds on the gram, one look at the cover made me want to push everything aside and read it. 

I’m so glad I did!

The last queen is a historical/biographical fiction detailing the life of Rani Jindan Kaur of Punjab. When I say detail, I mean DETAIL! The book tells us everything starting from childhood up until the last day that the queen lived.

We hear so much about the male rulers we’ve had. When it comes to female rulers, we can pretty much count the stories on our fingers.

In lieu of complete transparency, I have never heard of Rani Jindan and if one of the goals the author had by writing the story was to get more people to know the Queen, she has won.

The story is divided into four parts - Girl, Bride, Queen, and Rebel.

I expected a triumphant woman who defied the prejudices of the society, fighting wars and ruling kingdoms. While she was everything that I mentioned above, she was also a woman that went from rags to riches becoming the youngest queen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh aka Sarkar, the Regent Queen when her son is set to rule at the tender age of five and back to rags, denied her pension once the British government takes over.

So, while it was all-powerful and joyous, it was also sad and depressing. What spoke to me most is how real the story was. No time was wasted in trying to glorify her life. 

We learn about the rise and fall of the Empire, Raji Jindan’s relationships with her parents, her brother Jawahar, Guddan - a wife of Sarkars’ that she befriends, Mangla - her maid and ultimately her son - Dalip. We get a view of internal politics and how they make and break kingdoms. 

The part I enjoyed the most was the one that takes place in Britain where her zeal and fire never die down in spite of the circumstances. She holds her ground and never gives up.

So while the story per se is not of someone winning and conquering, it is about someone who will inspire you to be yourself and never let anyone or anything bring you down!

Rating - 4/5