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Indu Sundaresan

Goodreads Author

Born

India

Website

http://www.indusundaresan.com

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Member Since

September 2011

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Indu Sundaresan was born in India and grew up on Air Force bases all over the country. Her father, a fighter pilot, was also a storyteller—managing to keep his audiences captive and rapt with his flair for drama and timing. He got this from his father, Indu's grandfather, whose visits were always eagerly awaited. Indu's love of stories comes from both of them, from hearing their stories based on imagination and rich Hindu mythology, and from her father's writings.

After an undergraduate degree in economics from India, Indu came to the U.S. for graduate school at the University of Delaware. But all too soon, the storytelling gene beckoned.

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Popular Answered Questions

I lwould ove to read more about Rukkyya Begum and Hamida Banu. Can you please write a novel on them? Love your storytelling skills.

Indu Sundaresan Thank you, Supreya. I've been asked about writing about the other Mughal kings, especially Aurangazeb, and I did expand Ruqqaya's character quite a bi…moreThank you, Supreya. I've been asked about writing about the other Mughal kings, especially Aurangazeb, and I did expand Ruqqaya's character quite a bit in THE TWENTIETH WIFE, but never been asked about Akbar's mother, Hamida Banu. Definitely something to think about--writing a prequel to THE TWENTIETH WIFE!(less)

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How did you get the idea of building up on the Taj Mahal trilogy?

Indu Sundaresan There's a bit of a long answer for this, Akshay! I read about Mehrunnisa, Empress Nur Jahan during graduate school here in the US. I was homesick one …moreThere's a bit of a long answer for this, Akshay! I read about Mehrunnisa, Empress Nur Jahan during graduate school here in the US. I was homesick one day, went to the library and checked out books on India. One of them was on Mughal harems and Mehrunnisa.

After I graduated (with degrees in economics and operations research) I decided to write a novel. I wrote two (unpublished) novels before I turned my attention to Mehrunnisa and wrote both THE TWENTIETH WIFE and THE FEAST OF ROSES in one sitting. (They went through countless revisions after that first draft, of course.) That was novel 1 and novel 2 of the trilogy.

I knew even then I would write the third novel, SHADOW PRINCESS, because as I researched the first two, Shah Jahan's daughters, Jahanara and Roshanara, came to life, especially their rivalry with each other and their supporting of different brothers as the next Mughal emperor.

But, I let some 7 years pass before SHADOW PRINCESS was published--in the interim I wrote THE SPLENDOR OF SILENCE and IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS. I needed that time away from the Mughal world, because I'd spent too much time in the Mughal world in writing the first two novels of the trilogy--so when I wrote the third, SHADOW PRINCESS, I came back anew to Mughal India.

As I said, long answer :-)(less)

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Indu Sundaresan’s books

Average rating: 3.99 · 28,373 ratings · 2,853 reviews · 18 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Twentieth Wife (Taj Mahal Trilogy, #1) 4.06 avg rating — 15,245 ratings — published 2002 — 64 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Feast of Roses (Taj Mahal Trilogy, #2) 4.09 avg rating — 6,779 ratings — published 2003 — 44 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadow Princess (Taj Mahal Trilogy, #3) 3.76 avg rating — 2,997 ratings — published 2010 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Splendor of Silence 3.75 avg rating — 1,561 ratings — published 2006 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mountain of Light 3.42 avg rating — 793 ratings — published 2013 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In the Convent of Little Flowers: Stories 3.76 avg rating — 709 ratings — published 2008 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Indu Sundaresan Collection: The Twentieth Wife, Feast of Roses, and Shadow Princess 4.37 avg rating — 222 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Die Kaiserin der Rosen: Roman (Die Sterne Indiens 2) by Indu Sundaresan (Goodreads Author), Marion Balkenhol (Translator) 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Taj Trilogy 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Feast Of Roses 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Indu Sundaresan's Blog

THE TWENTIETH WIFE tv series

Siyaasat the tv adaptation of The Twentieth Wife is launching on a new history channel in India called Epic.

Launch date for the channel and Siyaasat is Thursday, November 19, 2014 at 9pm. From then on, the series will air every Thursday night at 9pm.

Here's a trailer:

http://youtu.be/QVXDxslV1Po

If you're in India and see the series, please do tell me what you think of it! Read more of this blog post »

7 likes · Like • 10 comments • flag

Published on November 10, 2014 14:00 • Tags: literature, television

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Series by Indu Sundaresan

Taj Mahal Trilogy (3 books)
by

Indu Sundaresan (Goodreads Author)

4.03 avg rating — 25,242 ratings

Quotes by Indu Sundaresan (?)

“But Mehrunnisa did not know then, would never know, by giving her blessings to this marriage she had set into progress a chain of events that would eventually erase her name from history's pages. Or that Arjumand would become the only Mughal woman posterity would easily recognize. Docile, seemingly tractable and troublesome Arjumand would eclipse even Mehrunnisa, cast her in a shadow...because of the monument Khurram would build in Arjumand's memory - the Taj Mahal.”
― Indu Sundaresan, The Feast of Roses

tags: agra, india, mughal, mumtaz, shah-jahan, tajmahal

15 likes

“No, no, don’t touch your mother just before the baby is born. Now it will be a girl child, because you are one. Run along now. Take your evil eye with you.”

“Ghias, we must be careful not to teach the girls too much. How will they ever find husbands if they are too learned? The less they know, the less they will want of the outside world.”
― Indu Sundaresan, The Twentieth Wife

14 likes

“This great Mughal Emperor [Akbar] was illiterate; he could neither read nor write. However, that had not stopped Akbar from cultivating the acquaintance of the most learned and cultured poets, authors, musicians, and architects of the time - relying solely on his remarkable memory during conversations with them.”
― Indu Sundaresan, The Twentieth Wife

tags: akbar, empire, india, mughal

9 likes

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Polls

January 2014 - Group Read: What would you like to read in January?
(Theme: Innovative, inspirational, strong female character)

The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great - Eva Stachniak

27 votes, 19.7%

The Aviator's Wife - Melanie Benjamin

16 votes, 11.7%

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

12 votes, 8.8%

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

12 votes, 8.8%

The Winthrop Woman - Anya Seton

11 votes, 8.0%

The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert

10 votes, 7.3%

Legacy - Susan Kay

9 votes, 6.6%

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen - Mary Sharratt

9 votes, 6.6%

The Twentieth Wife - Indu Sundaresan

8 votes, 5.8%

Hild - Nicola Griffith

8 votes, 5.8%

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald - Therese Anne Fowler

7 votes, 5.1%

Green Darkness - Anya Seton

4 votes, 2.9%

The Peerless Four - Victoria Patterson

2 votes, 1.5%

Band of Angels - Julia Gregson

2 votes, 1.5%

137 total votes

6 comments

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