But Kaikeyi is not willing to give up the freedom she’s gained or the voice she’s earned and be regulated to the sidelines-nor is she willing to let the women around her do the same if she can help it. When she’s married off as the third wife of another king, she learns that her penchant to use those bonds doesn’t always have the desired results. Using the bonds, she convinces her brother to train her as a warrior and teachers to let her study so that she doesn’t have to rely on the whims of men while her beloved maid Manthara teaches her to be a queen. Desperate for her mother, Kaikeyi unsuccessfully begs the gods for their help before scouring her mother’s library for a lesser god and discovering something else: a meditation ritual that lets her manipulate the bonds that tie her to others. And for me, on this day, it’s Vaishnavi Patel’s stunning epic debut, Kaikeyi. This exquisitely written feminist reimagining of the Ramayana from the so-called villain’s perspective was masterfully plotted and full of vivid details that immersed me within its pages and left me in utter awe that this is Patel’s first novel.Īs the king’s only daughter, Kaikeyi lives in the shadow of her twin and seven other brothers-until her father banishes her mother from court and Kaikeyi must step up to fill her shoes. Once in a while there comes a novel that astonishes you with its raw beauty and talent.
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