Palace of Illusions is a book written about the great Indian epic of Mahabharatam from the perspective of Draupadi. This book was on my TBR for the longest time and I was so happy to find it in my university library when I was just looking past shelves with no aim of finding a particular book.

The book accounts through the several parvas of the Mahabharata through Draupadi's eyes. This makes us question and provides alternate perspectives to events we've read and heard about from the epic since our childhoods.

I also think it is important to mention that the style of writing was key in contributing to the overall experience of reading the book. The sentences flow well, the vocabulary is exquisite, and the descriptions are so eloquent I could see the places and scenes being described unfurl in my imagination. The pacing of the book too, is perfect. I couldn't put it down.

There were two things that I didn't particularly like about the book.

First, was that I personally felt that the attempts to humanize such a grandly spoken about historical/mythological character such as Draupadi just fell flat for me. The reason for this is because the afforementioned attempts seemed very obvious to me. There were instances in the book when Paanchali would say or do things or think to herself and it felt almost forced for me when I read it.

The second thing that I didn't like was the ending. After the walk to the end of life, Draupadi ends up meeting Krishna and in the end her soul reaches out to that of Karna and they coalesce into the sky. I do love the love story between Draupadi and Karna, the anticipation, the grieving over missed chances and their circumstances. However, hearing how Draupadi was born from a fire, I yearned to see her death carry such effect.

Though I say this, this also has me questioning myself. Why is it so wrong for her to finally accept the love and acceptance she has been yearning for her entire life? Draupadi was a woman who was born from fire with her destiny already carved, endured the worst forms of humiliation in front of men (several times too), was ostracized for being the harbringer of destruction. Why am I not allowing myself to accept a soft and serene ending for a woman like her? Why am I telling myself that she is resilient only if she is alone? Then again, the reason why I was unable to accept such an ending was because of a question this prompted in me---why is love the only way she can find the calm she so much deserved? I was happy to see her conversation with Krishna towards the end and assumed her soul would now take on a journey of its own. The way it reached out to Karna was what upset me. Did she really need him to find that final sense of peace? If she did, what is wrong in it and why should I be upset over it?

Maybe re-reading this book in a few years will give me a strengthened perspective.

I have to mention how I admired the way this final scene was written though. It was uniquely worded and the descriptions of the souls were so beautiful and the entire experience of reading through it was impeccable.

So overall, it was a great read though I did have small qualms with perspectives but that could just be me.