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Beneath A Marble Sky (Paperback)

by John Shors (Author) "In the early days, when I was still an innocent girl, my father believed in perfection ..." (more)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 344 pages
Publisher: Signet (TRD); Reprint edition (May 30 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451218469
ISBN-13: 978-0451218469
Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14 x 2 cm
Shipping Weight: 363 g

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #19,082 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Shors's spirited debut novel tells the story of the eldest daughter of the 17th-century emperor who built the Taj Mahal. From her self-imposed exile, Jahanara recalls growing up in the Red Fort; the devotion her parents, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, had for each other; and the events that took place during the construction of the fabulous monument to their love. Although Jahan is the emperor and has many wives, Mumtaz (he calls her Taj) is his soul mate, a constant companion and wise political consultant. She even travels with him into battle, where she eventually dies giving birth to their 14th child. Fortunately, she has the foresight to begin preparing her favorite daughter, Jahanara, by instructing the girl in the arts of influence and political strategy. Thus the young woman is able to pick up where her savvy mother left off. From then on it is Jahanara who advises the emperor, often instead of her dreamy brother, Dara, who is the rightful heir to the throne. It is she who helps with construction of the magnificent mausoleum for Mumtaz's remains and who falls in love with its architect, Isa, a man whom she can never marry. And it is she who leads a failed effort to defend the throne against a coup by her evil brother, Aurangzeb. With infectious enthusiasm and just enough careful attention to detail, Shors give a real sense of the times, bringing the world of imperial Hindustan and its royal inhabitants to vivid life.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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In the early days, when I was still an innocent girl, my father believed in perfection. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction at its Finest!, Aug 19 2007

By	Teddy (Richmond, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This historical fiction is about the story behind the building of the Taj Mahal, which was built to honor Mughal Empress Mumtaz Maha. It's the saga of her family and is told by the central character Jahanara, the daughter of the Mughal emperor. It is a story of love, honor, and betrayal.

This book is exquisite! Shor's deftly colors each page with breathtaking prose and breaths live into the vivid characters! It tried to read slowly, to savor each word and image, but this book is hard to put down! John Shor's architecture of this book is beautiful and I highly recommend it!

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvellous story, beautifully told, Mar 17 2007

By	J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Simply stated, this is a beautifully written novel.

From the opening sentence to the last page, John Shors brings to life the world of contrasts which was the Mughal Empire at the time the Taj Mahal was built. In the process he tells us one of the world's most endearing and enduring love stories.

Elegant fiction in an historical setting. John Shors involves the reader from the beginning, and it was almost painful to reach the end. I wanted more.

Highly recommended

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A monument to undying love, Jul 3 2007

By	Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

A romantic reconstruction of imperial life in 17th century India, "Beneath a Marble Sky" recounts the turbulent story of princess Jahanara, the daughter of the emperor who commissioned the construction of the Taj Mahal as a fabulous testament to the overwhelming love of his wife. Well educated, literate, a wily diplomat, savvy political advisor and a bright, witty conversationalist and companion at a time when Muslim women were held in particularly low esteem, Jahanara has been well taught by her mother who bequeathed the solemn responsibility for the care of her ailing father to Jahanara on her death bed.

Now an elderly woman herself, the story is told in the form of a flashback narrated from Jahanara's point of view as she relates the fascinating, complex, violent and disturbing history of her family to her grand-daughters. Her soft spoken, pacifist eldest brother Dara, the rightful heir to the imperial throne dreams of the day he can see the Muslim community in peaceful co-existence with those professing the majority Hindu faith. In complete contrast, her younger brother, Aurangzeb, is so consumed by jealousy of his brother's position as heir and the deep hatred of Hindus whom he labels godless heretics, that he spends his entire life plotting the coup and the civil war necessary to steal the throne from his father and brother. Jahanara's story, set against the backdrop of the construction of the Taj Mahal also tells of her unrequited impossible love for Isa, architect of the Taj Mahal and a commoner that Jahanara can never marry and the exquisite pain of her arranged, political marriage to Khondamir, an ugly, evil, conniving merchant with some very sleazy, distasteful sexual proclivities.

"Beneath a Marble Sky" is many things for many readers - an accomplished historical fiction with lots of savory details for time and place; a compelling political page-turner loaded with intrigue, violence, passion and pathos; as well as a powerful moving romance that tells of three distinctly different but heart-warming relationships that come to fruition in ways that will draw a sigh and a smile from even the most romance-phobic male readers.

My taste in historical fiction would have enjoyed more time spent on the context of the story - more background, for example, as to the religious tensions that were so central to the story and perhaps a little more detail describing the common man's daily life in a setting which to us is so completely exotic and foreign. But, to his credit, Shors did not overstate his case or overstay his welcome by producing a needlessly padded heavyweight door-stopper which, sadly, is often the case with contemporary historical fiction authors. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 blue ribbon Romance Junkies review
Most people who have had the pleasure of journeying to see the Taj Mahal marvel in awe at the majestic mausoleum. Read more

Published 20 months ago by C. Dionne

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!
A great read..especially after reading The Feast of Roses. It gives you a completely different view of Prince Khurram..later known as Emperor Shah Jahan. Read more

Published on Jun 25 2007 by Passion for books

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute masterpiece of historical fiction
Should Oprah ever read this novel, I have no doubts that it would quickly become one of her book club selections -- and even then, Beneath a Marble Sky would not get the attention... Read more

Published on Nov 5 2006 by Daniel Jolley

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful additon to...
I had previously read THE TWENTIETH WIFE and FEAST OF ROSES by Indu Sundaresan. Both of these books tell the stories of this main character's ancestors and family. Read more

Published on Jul 18 2004