I liked this book. I tweeted/Facebooked that this was my commute reading and the response was great. All the women who had read it loved it. And all the men either hated it, or were critical, or said that it was self-indulgent. I will give it to the one who said self-indulgent. But then why shouldn't authors be, right? Where would fiction be, where would imagination be if authors aren't self-indulgent?

All this said and done, there was a huge debate on why this book wasn't worth it. Some people felt that it robbed the whole essence of Mahabharata, some others were disgusted that a 'great' woman like Draupadi was shown as a scheming, lustful woman who lusted after Karna.

Well, if these are the issues, then hey! I like the book for precisely these reasons. I'm no Mahabharata expert, but from the little I've read and watched (Every 90s Indian kid has watched the Mahabharata), the story is very much about the men who fought a war narrated from a male perspective. This book focusses on Draupadi, the Pandava queen who got married to all the 5 brothers. How easy it was to accept that a young girl didn't mind marrying 5 men, let alone not having chosen any of them. Because that's how it was done. This book talks of a fresh perspective. What went through young Draupadi's head. She wasn't perfect. Like none of us women are. We aren't saints. We have feelings, some of them very wrong, but the truth is they exist. And women's feelings (I'm using the word feelings very loosely here)aren't acknowledged, let alone expressed or been allowed to express, even by the women themselves. So, it is good to see that perspective here. Yes, it focuses a lot on Draupadi's pride, her thoughts/desire for Karna - something which isn't acceptable in mainstream society, then and now. Is that why a lot of the men in my circle hated this book? Because it didn't show Draupadi as this perfect wife who gave up everything to follow her husbands? Did it ruin the ideal image?

Apart from saying it was wrong because the Kauravas did it, why doesn't anyone talk about her being a pawn. Even the book speaks of her as the character that is the cause of a war. She is as much a pawn in the game. As much as she wouldn't believe that herself.

Do read. I'm not a huge fan of philosophy, so a lot of it went over my head, and I plan to read it again + read other Mahabharata inspired books. But if this perspective of Draupadi being a thinking woman and someone who didn't think as is expected of her hurts, well, get over it.

Into the Queen's complicated world.

Devoid of words, even the ones that I kept practicing over and over again, even the ones that I kept forming everyday during the unexpected seconds of the day when the book sparked in my memory, I may not give an exact review of this book, but I am here to write about how the book made me feel. A sudden wave of overwhelm took me over as I set out to write the review. Throughout the book, it was as though I was born from fire, married five men, felt strongly for one, went through humiliation, overtook completely by vengeance, exiled for 13 years, witnessed the painful war and the brutal deaths of my loved ones, died at the mountain holding onto the one who really loved me. This was what it made me feel. It made me form that invisible thread connecting Draupadi to Shrinidhi, taught me things from a perspective of that of a woman who lived an age ago, yet so relevant to what I experience today. All the flaws I possess, all the insecurities that hold me back, all the fear, all the ego, all emotions seem fair. For a queen with divine power and purpose or a young girl reading about it, seem to go through it all. All I wanted to say is, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, gave me a whole new perspective to the character that I've always loved the most, now that only making my love for her more stronger and deeper in relevance to me, she has bound us together, forever.

The Palace of Should've Could've Would've.

I can't get over what a lost opportunity this book was. A 360 page retelling of the Mahabharat, from the perspective of female lead Panchali, The Palace of Illusions could've brought an ancient, legendary world alive. And yet everything is decidedly flat, especially the character arcs.

I don't understand the morality in this story. No one grows. No one is unselfish. Everyone keeps making epically selfish mistakes with dire consequences for everyone they love (and all the little people they're responsible for but don't care about at all) until the very end. They're supposed to be at least half-divine but it's their pettiness and indulgence in animal reactivity that are unique.

Panchali spends the first half of the book recounting and questioning poor and irrational decisions of her past, but without any sense of growth or perspective. She only regrets that the outcomes didn't benefit her. In one scene she'll rebel against her mother-in-law and cause major problems and in the next she'll be inexplicably obedient and so cause another chain reaction of ruinous problems. The reader feels the lazy, unsubtle hand of the writer.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is not a hack author and she is able to illustrate some of this world. We see forests and palaces and servants... It's nice to be able to see some Indian legend through modern eyes. I would have given her 2 stars for this but then she commits the double sins of letting the apex of the story stagnate on the vine and, after, forces us to sit with the rot for another 100 pages.

The pinnacle of the story is the great war, which is drawn out over pages and pages, but is impressive only in its lack of suspense or excitement. I don't think I've ever read such limp battle scenes. Despite this being a book about fate and prophecy, throughout, the author makes no attempt at laying the groundwork for suspense or future payoff. It's impossible for the reader to have any emotional investment when the information is given at the last minute: "an arrow struck the boy, who happened to be his favorite son, so he was sad."

And then, the book ends in flashbacks!!! We have to relive it all again, and with no change in the fantastically petty, selfish perspective.

The Palace of Illusions is a retelling of the Indian Epic Mahabharata from Draupadi's perspective. I have always found Mahabharata to be a fascinating read and reading it from a woman's perspective really peaked my interest. This epic never ceases to impart timeless life lessons. From the beginning of this book till its end, Draupadi's transition from a naive girl to a formidable woman, as a result of the tragedies that befall her and her family, is commendable.
Her father, King Drupad, organises a yagna to get a son who will avenge him for the humiliation he faced at the hands of Dronacharya. In this yagna, along with a son, he gets a daughter as well, who takes birth from fire. This is both unexpected and unwanted for King Drupad. This daughter is Draupadi. From her very childhood, she has a sense of being unwanted and keeps to herself and expresses her emotions only to her brother Dhristdyumna and her Dhai Ma. Despite being tucked away in a palace with not much of an opportunity to go out in the world, she is a strong headed girl and has it in her to challenge the norms of the society in respect of the roles of both the genders.

This story has every major incident that took place in the Mahabharata from Draupadi's angle and what she felt when it happened. The way she viewed each of her five husbands, knowing their strengths and weaknesses. From feeling loved to proud to betrayed, she faces it all. Draupadi is not a very forgiving woman and causes a catastrophe like no other due to the humiliation she faces of being disrobed in a court full of men with her husbands witnessing it all as mere spectators because of being "honour bound".
What honour, Draupadi thinks, lies in watching a helpless woman being robbed of her modesty without doing anything to put a stop it. Here, she challenges their oath and their so called warrior's pride . This book is brimming with such strong moments that as a reader I couldn’t help feeling like a part of the story myself. I felt Draupadi’s pain and her insecurities myself. I appreciate the way her character has been interpreted by the author and I believe that Draupadi’s actions and thoughts were totally legit.
This book is a masterpiece.