Rebel Queen in Around the World

Feb 23, 2018 Michelle rated it liked it

Rebel Queen is not the book it is pretending to be. The synopsis is stretching the truth quite a bit (if not outright lying). It lures you in with promises of a remarkable ruler, Rani Lakshmi, who defies not only the gender barriers of her time but the might of the British army by raising up two armies of her own, one male and one female, to stand against these callous foreigners when they try to take her beloved homeland. Told through the unique perspective of her favorite female soldier and co Rebel Queen is not the book it is pretending to be. The synopsis is stretching the truth quite a bit (if not outright lying). It lures you in with promises of a remarkable ruler, Rani Lakshmi, who defies not only the gender barriers of her time but the might of the British army by raising up two armies of her own, one male and one female, to stand against these callous foreigners when they try to take her beloved homeland. Told through the unique perspective of her favorite female soldier and companion, the author compares her Rani Lakshmi to Joan of Arc and you're at once taken by the image of this bold warrior queen riding into battle to defend her homeland. Regrettably, if this is the story you've come to read, it isn't in these pages.

Despite what the synopsis or title might lead you to believe this book isn't about Rani Lakshmi. This book is about Sita Bhosale, a soldier in the rani's female army and one of her favored companions. Rani Lakshmi features somewhat heavily in Sita's story, but much of the book (more than 70% of it) is devoted to Sita's transformation from a sheltered village girl with no prospects to a fierce warrior woman and not the rebellion or the rani's role in it. The story doesn't suffer for being Sita's, this was still a very enjoyable read, it just isn't the story I signed up for.

The writing is simple but in a very enjoyable way. Sita is reflecting back as she's telling her story and often pauses to explain to the reader, should they not be familiar with Indian culture, what it is she is referring to. I thought the characters were well done too. I especially found the women of the Durga Daal (Rhani Lakshmi's female guards) interesting.

I was disappointed to find that Rhani Lakshmi was not quite the bad ass the synopsis would have you believe. You expect her to stand tall and strong beside her people but during much of the conflict the rani cowers and refuses to declare an alliance with Indian rebels for fear of angering the British should the rebellion fail. It seems a bit misleading to promote her as some sort of warrior queen when she spends most of her time trying to personally hide from or evade the violence while others fight and innocents are slaughtered. She doesn't really raise an army so much as she manages to not lose the loyalty of those already defending her. Although I find it fascinating and would love to read more about India's seemingly rich history and culture, I cannot claim to be terribly familiar with it now so I'm not sure how historically accurate the author's portrayal of Rani Laskshmi is. For me, it's irrelevant. I'm really in it more for the story than the historical accuracy (that's what history books are for, right?). This Rani Lakshmi, however accurate the depiction may or may not be, didn't do much for me.

Another point of irritation I have with this is the ending. The author takes her time to build up this beautifully crafted story for like 80% of this book and then just blows through the ending at a breakneck pace. I really hate when authors do this because it almost feels lazy or, perhaps, that the author is even a little bored with their own story. It feels like you, dedicated reader, you're being penalized for savoring the story and patiently waiting for that compelling finale. It's frustrating. All the action, the violence, the rebellion that has been building is over before you know it. In the end, several characters are literally discarded with little more than a few sentences explaining them away.

This book spends a lot of time exploring the male dominated culture of India and what being a woman during this time really meant. This is what makes Rani Lakshmi's reign so unique or Sita's evolution so special. It was both fascinating and horrifying to read about things like purdah (the practice of keeping women secluded and free from public observation), sati (the expectation of women to immolate themselves on their husband's funeral pyre), and the social acceptability of female infanticide but it made the motives of some of these female characters that much clearer. With that in mind, I would have expected the author to give Sita's sister Anu a proper ending after Sita returns to her home village and we learn Anu's fate. Without wishing to spoil anything, Anu's eventuality is ripe for commentary and I really wanted to sift through all of that. Instead, Anu is one of those characters that just gets sort of conveniently swept aside. Kahini is another. I would really have enjoyed having her motives fleshed out more. ...more

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