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63rd out of 195 books
—
894 voters
Raj
by
Gita Mehta
Jaya Singh is the intelligent, beautiful, and compassionate daughter of the Maharajah and Maharani of Balmer. Raised in the thousand-year-old tradition of purdah, a strict regime of seclusion, silence, and submission, Jaya is ill-prepared to assume the role of Regent Maharani of Sirpur upon the death of her decadent, Westernized husband. But Jaya bravely fulfills her duty...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
March 13th 1991
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1989)
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This novel reads as a chronicle, not only of Princess Jaya's life, but also of an India in transformation from the late 1800s up through the early years following Independence in 1947.
I enjoyed reading this book and found Princess Jaya to be a remarkable woman. She weathers a lot of trying experiences and shows herself to be resilient.
The only fault I found with the novel, however, was in the sequencing of historical events. For instance, some of what the author stated about the placing of som...more
I enjoyed reading this book and found Princess Jaya to be a remarkable woman. She weathers a lot of trying experiences and shows herself to be resilient.
The only fault I found with the novel, however, was in the sequencing of historical events. For instance, some of what the author stated about the placing of som...more
This novel chronicles the life of Jaya, an Indian princess traditionally raised in a time of change and upheaval. Jaya is born in the 1890s, when British rule in India is well-established, and during her lifetime, Jaya sees this authority challenged and crumble. Jaya tests her own strength, as she experiences a loveless marriage and the struggles of motherhood, but also when she becomes the regent of an Indian kingdom after her husband's death. Raj is an interesting portrait of Indian royalty du...more
This is an engrossing fictional account of a Maharadja's daughters' rise to Maharani of her own small, dying country and how she ultimately ultimately becomes a key voice in Indian politics.
I have to read it again, as it was a while ago and I lost touch with some of the details.
Buit mostly because having now read Lucy Moore's excellent Maharani's: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament I've come to realize that Jaya is at least partly based on th...more
I have to read it again, as it was a while ago and I lost touch with some of the details.
Buit mostly because having now read Lucy Moore's excellent Maharani's: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament I've come to realize that Jaya is at least partly based on th...more
I needed an audio book to keep me busy during stupid tasks and chose this one because it was 16 hours long. Raj is about the life and times of Jaya, the daughter of the Maharaja of Balmer; it’s a story that starts before her birth in the 19th century and ends late in her life in the post-partition 20th century. Jaya’s personal story is heavily interspersed with exhaustive and luscious descriptions of palaces and landscapes, and awkwardly stuffed with historical information. Maybe it’s a function...more
Walaupun buku ini merupakan sebuah cerita fiksi, tapi menggambarkan latar belakang sejarah yang sangat akurat. Menggambarkan ketika inggris masih bercokol di daratan India. Hingga sampai akhirnya India (dan pakistan) berada pada ujung kemerdekaannya. Dibumbui dengan cerita pertautan hati antara sang Maharani dengan sahabatnya sejak kecil, sayangnya perbedaan ras (yang satu ningrat india, sementara yang lain adalah pejabat Inggris) menghalangi mereka. Perjalanan Maharani dari sejak kecil, kemudia...more
I read this book a couple of years back and the best I can recall is that I really enjoyed it as it. Loved the historical aspect and depections of life during that time in India.
Read in a group with Shantaram and The Namesake. This one gave me a great perspective on the others, but I doubt I would've liked it much on its own.
I read this book years ago, but remember being engrossed. It's a cool piece of historical fiction set in in the time of the British Raj in India.
Poorly drawn, cliched characters. Textbook-ish history. Lots of royal Jewellery, attire, and rituals. Not a very good read.
beautiful story, read it when i visited India for the first time, and saw the places she is telling about. enchanting and sad.
Aug 03, 2012
Alexandra
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
colonialism,
history
A great picture of the height of luxury in India at the turn of the last century...she really did live in a gilded cage..
Apr 08, 2009
Beverly
added it
A wonderful fiction story of India during their fight for independence. Very well written fiction with lots of historical fact.
I like the sweep of Indian history but it really bogged down in some places where the POV character got in the way.
Learned lots about India culture and history. The story was somewhat unsatisfying in the end.
Wow. This difficult to get through even though I found it really interesting.
I am finding this fascinating. There is so much that I don't know about history that a novel like this one is interesting and full of surprises.
Een andere blik op de geschiedenis van India
Nicely done. I liked it so much the first time, I read it again immediately and liked it just as much!!
Marvelous!!
I recommend this book to people who are interested in learning about the history of India. The story itself wasn't enough to keep me going, but reading about the real history of Ghandi etc. made me finish the book.
This is a very long historical novel that offers a feminist perspective on the history of India during the last years of the British Raj. It is skillful storytelling steeped in the complexity of this history. Why didn't I read this in High School history class? The story is told from the perspective of a young Indian princess in Royal India, and tracks through her life.
I read this one just before the honeymoon to India, Thanks Sandra for a geat recomendation! When in India picked up a biography of one of Indias real life princesses called "A Princess Remembers" Also a great book to give you an incite as to what it might be like to have actually lived that life.
Not sure why I stuck it out. The first 400 pages should have been cut to 100 max; the last 80 pages could have been doubled. Lots of good history but somehow lacking depth of character...
"A River Sutra" seems to be written by a more seasoned author.
"A River Sutra" seems to be written by a more seasoned author.
I am really enjoying this book. I happened by it in the library. Score!
Amazing! I must agree with an earlier reviewer, some chapters tested my will, but then completely made up for it in the long run in such a masterpiece! I enjoyed the overall impression of this novel. In fact it's one of the novels that I absolutely enjoyed!
A bit uneven. Some chapters were really good, some seemed to drag on forever. It does span the entire life of the main charachter (a little girl-to queen-to displaced queen once the British invade) and Lord knows I love a chronological story.
This historical novel fails both as a novel and as history. The narrative catalogs the momentous events in India from roughly 1900-1950 in the most rote way possible, while the main character is unconvincingly drawn.
Great book that make you dive into fantastic imagination of exotic Indian Harem at the turn of the centuries. You get to follow the live of a princess since her birth to the day she become a great modern women.
Great book, compelling story with an amazing heroine who is a survivor and creates a life for herself despite the fact that she is trapped in a world where very few options are available to her.
A sheer delight... Brilliant in writing, rich in history, compelling in narrative. Gita Mehta shows u India as nobody else. This goes in my top 5 books of all times.
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Feb 10, 2011 09:15am