Category: Historical Fiction
Publisher (India): Rupa Publications India
Published in the US by McPherson & Company
In the seventeenth century, Emperor Shah Jahan, overwhelmed by grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal, his beloved wife, pledges to create the grandest tribute to love the world has ever seen. The stunning Princess Jahanara, the Emperor’s eldest daughter, is to oversee the construction of this architectural masterpiece. Even as the monument is being built, Jahanara falls in love with Ustad Isa, the celebrated architect of the Taj Mahal. But theirs is a romance that must remain furtive.
In an aching narration, Princess Jahanara recounts her parents’ epic love story and her own courageous attempt to keep love alive amidst religious fundamentalism, fratricidal wars and the murky politics of the Mughal court.
Lyrical, brilliantly imagined, and sweeping in its breadth, Beneath a Marble Sky is historical fiction at its best.
The author: John Shors