Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful journey through time
Review: I wish I had read this book prior to our visit to Rajasthan last year. It would have been great preparation for the trip.
The story of Mehrunissa as written here is one of the great love stories of all time. She is a beautiful, smart, patient and cunning young lady who plans early in her life to become the wife of the Emperor Jahangir. Through the story, the reader learns of life in Mughal India, the expectations society has on the individuals in the story: of honor, of duty and of obligation to the Empire. I could almost feel myself walking through the halls of the zenana or sitting in the Diwan-i-am and watching the proceedings in the Emperor's Court!
It was interesting to read that the role of the women in the story, often viewed as subservient in this culture, could be one of power and influence. Especially so if the woman was shrewd and cunning like Mehrunissa or her mentor, Ruqqaya.
This book was wonderfully crafted from the truths and legends that are known about Mehrunissa and was beautifully written from beginning to end. A page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting snapshot of an era
Review: In The Twentieth Wife, readers are told the fact-based tale of Merunissa, the woman who would become Emperor Jahangir's twentieth wife and, ultimately, the most powerful woman in the Empire. Before that happens, Jahangir and Merunissa are kept apart by a variety of forces conspiring against them, including Jahangir's power-hungry wife Jagat Gosini, Merunissa's first husband Ali Quili, differences in status, Ali Quili's exile from the kingdom, and Merunissa's father's fall from Jahangir's good graces. Throughout their separation, Merunissa and Jahangir share an intense but troublesome attraction and love from afar. However, the title gives everything away...we know from the start Merunissa will become Jahangir's twentieth wife.This book was interesting, because in American schools we are often taught a great deal of European history, a great deal of American history, and a little Chinese and far Eastern history. That's it. We are really never taught about other region's histories, which are also rich and colorful. Most notably, American schools lack instruction on African history. Nor do I remember learning anything of Indian history. Like European history, this tale features tales of princely revolts against their fathers, the king. There are tales of wars between empires and constantly shifting territorial borders. Notably, European, African, American and Indian history all has one thing in common--all feature the repression and silence of women. Merunissa is luckier than most--she had both a father and a husband who respected her ideas despite her womanhood. Still, she suffers as a result of her sex. She has no choice about whom to marry, when to divorce, and where she will go. Though Merunissa does not wish to marry Ali Quili, she does so for her father's sake. To refuse the marriage arranged by Emperor Akbar will be a great insult. Merunissa's lifelong happiness is inconsequential by comparison. It is also interesting that men, even non-royalty, are allowed multiple wives plus concubines. There is never a question about whether polyandry was permitted--clearly, it wasn't. Overall, a rich and interesting tale. Merunissa is a compelling character. I am curious as to how much of the tale is based on verifiable fact, and how much is the author's invention. This novel features both a compelling storyline and fully developed characters. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Grand Love Story
Review: In the wrong hands, historical fiction can become tedious and one-dimensional, but such is not the case here. "The Twentieth Wife," a plot-driven gem with an exquisitely drawn cast of characters, proves that Sundaresan's skills are equal to the task of relating one of history's grand love stories. Told with eloquence, skill, and a tempo reflectived of the time, Sundaresan's prose stirs the soul.
Rating:
Summary: A Memorable Journey
Review: Indu Sundaresan's The Twentieth Wife claimed my attention in a way that books rarely do. From the beginning I was vested in the characters, but even more strongly, in the time and place in which they live. The details are astonishing in their complexity, and Sundaresan is equally at home portraying the harsh conditions of a nomadic existence or the opulence of palace life. She has a gift for creating a sense of "place," and originating from that "place," her characters are memorable and compelling. Finishing the book, I felt as if I'd taken a journey, one both vivid and memorable.
Rating:
Summary: A youthful passion fulfilled
Review: Invoking desert life in the time of the Mughal empire, Sundaresan draws the reader into a rich tapestry of Emperors, life behind the wall of the zenana, and the drumbeat of hooves galloping over sand toward the heat of battle. The beautiful, fated Mehrunnisa, jewel of her family, falls in love with Salim, next in line to be Emperor after his father, when he will be named Jahangir. She is only eight years old. But she is a dutiful and respectful daughter and keeps her secret to herself, never knowing that someday her dream will come to fruition, if not for many years. During that time, Mehrunnisa is married to an honorable soldier and bears a child. She is familiar since youth with the corridors of power and the insulated, yet powerful life in the zenana, living with the women of the royal family. Her journey is through the intervening years until Jahangir finally takes her as his wife. Mehrunnisa, later known as Nurjahan, becomes one of India's most powerful and controversial empresses, but this novel concerns her journey to that point. Hopefully, Sundaresan's next novel will contain the most fascinating years of Mehrunnisa's life, when she achieves her goals as wife and empress, a power of her own.
Rating:
Summary: More fiction than history, but very well-written
Review: Like most historical fiction, this book is more fiction than history. However, the historical details are present, and not in a superfluous manner--they were sufficient to keep me from getting frustrated and were acutally woven into the story, not just halfheartedly thrown in. As for the story itself, Sundaresan is a good writer, and knows how to hold her reader's interest. The characters are reasonably well-developed (I say "reasonably" because some are better developed than others), the descriptions are enough to keep the reader's imagination fired but not excessive, and the plotline itself is strong. I wouldn't put this book in the top-10 I have ever read, but it was still a four-star read and I will be one of the first to own "Feast of Roses", the sequel to "Twentieth Wife", when it comes out on paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: Actually I give it 3.5 stars
Review: Many of the reviewers have already written extensively about the plot so I won't repeat it here. All the reviews I saw before I read the book complained about the shallow character development, and armed with that information, I read the book without high expectations. It did not disappoint, but neither did it surprise me. The problem with the characters is that you can't relate to them. You have no idea why they are doing this or that, only that they are doing certain things because Indu Sundaresen stated that they were. Because, of course, it's in the customs of the "times." Sometime she would give a reason for it, and we the readers would understand its logics, but we would not be involved emotionally in the decisions and care about what the characters are doing. The characters speak their own language, think their own thoughts, walk their own land, and Sundaresen details all that beautifully, but ultimately they, as real flesh-and-blood feeling thinking emotional human beings are as distant from us as their names on a pages of a history textbook. Sometimes I would be anticipating a dramatic moment, but instead of a in-depth analysis of that moment, Sundaresen whooshes past it with a line or two. I am taken aback often by the woodenness of the characters, by their inability to respond in a human way. Of course, there are some places where Sundaresen excels and I am taken completely into the story.
The plot is quick, there are some parts which some people may call "war talk" but in fact it's just court intrigue that takes place outside of the court and with men. Sometimes all the telling and not enough showing might become tedious but it is a good history lesson. I'm an avid history buff and I love historical fiction no matter what form they come in so I didn't mind at all. All in all, this book left me with very little impression, but while I was reading it I was engrossed. Sundaresen knows her 17th century Indian history, customs and trivia well and I was highly entertained my her descriptions. I only wish that, while writing the book, she removed herself with all of her 'modern' influences from the book completely and let her characters run free. Just because the book is set in history doesn't mean the characters need to be as distant. I also wanted to remind all of you that reviews are a simple way of summarizing your feelings about the book. In no way are they a complete reflection of all the thoughts and feelings toward a book. There are so many little things about the book, good and bad, that I can't remember or can't even articulate, and what I have written here is only a crude description of what the book really is about. I know most of you have probably heard about Memoirs of a Geisha, so I won't rave about it here, and I absolutely recommend it because years after I read it the characters' personalities are still imprinted on my mind. One other lesser-known book, probably because it's relegated to the young adult section instead of the adult section (although it deserves to be placed in both) is Mara, Daughter of the Nile. This book is an absolutely amazing piece of historical fiction, it manages to capture a fast exciting plot, character development and a beautiful romances all in one package.
Rating:
Summary: Romance novel but well worth the read
Review: Not a traditional romance novel. Well worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Love
Review: Sundaresan's novel draws a vivid and colorful picture of 17th century India under the Mughal rule. The underlying theme of the seemingly faceless, mute and therefore mysterious mughal women wielding power over the monarchy by the force of their love provides an enthralling story line. The descriptions of the Mina Bazar, a market solely for the women belonging to the Royal harem to be able to move freely without being veiled, drives home the extremely cloistered life these women lived, where once they enter the zenana, neither do they see any man other than the king for the rest of their lives, nor does any male not of immediate family ever catch a glimpse of them. The wealth of detailed descriptions of the lifestyle, locale and time, helps provide a fertile imagination with a clear picture of life in India during the 17th century. This story about Mehrunissa, who broke all the established customs of that time, who, at the age of 34 (when women were discarded as old and useless) managed to capture the King's fancy to the extent that he married her as his twentieth wife holds the reader enthralled until the finale. Though this book is a fictionalized version of Indian history in the 17th century, most events are accurately recorded, showing that the author has done her homework! A must-read gripping tale of love and hate, desire and ambition, treachery and debauchery.
Rating:
Summary: An Enchanting Novel
Review: The author balances fact and fiction wonderfully in this richly detailed, beautifully written novel. Aided by Sundaresan's gift for describing the sights, sounds, and smells of Mughal India, the reader is transported into the story and into the schemes and intrigues of royal life. This is historical fiction at it's best--inviting the reader's imagination, and infusing historical figures with real character and life. Interesting subject matter, gorgeous prose, and intelligent writing make this a winner--I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book!
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