“I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions-much good it did me.”
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.
But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak-and what legacy she intends to leave behind.
A stunning debut from a powerful new voice, Kaikeyi reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the Indian epic the Ramayana, weaving a tale of fate, family, courage, and heartbreak-of an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.
My thoughts: featuring characters from the epic Hindu tale the Ramayana, which tells the story of Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and his quest to rescue his kidnapped wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. This is actually set before the events of the Ramayana, inspired by a tiny plot point where Rama is exiled by his stepmother Kaikeyi.
By giving Kaikeyi a voice and a story of her own, growing up a princess and marrying a king as his third wife, this creates a rich and fascinating world in which to explore gender and caste dynamics as well as the complex family life that Rama and his brothers were raised in.
Kaikeyi is clever and kind, but sometimes misguided. Convinced the gods do not care for her, she attempts to learn some magic and manipulate matters and people around her.
As she ages and becomes a wife and mother, her desires change. She wants to make the kingdom better, happier, and help women to find their voices. But as she makes these changes and improves some things, there are those who oppose her and their power over her beloved sons is dangerous.
I was utterly fascinated, I vaguely know the story in the Ramayana from school, but it isn’t a myth cycle I know as well as some others. Possibly because it is part of the founding stories of Hinduism and is taught in RE and not as literature, like Norse or Greek myths are.
Which is a shame as the epic stories of gods, monsters, heroes and battles that make up not just the Ramayana are incredible and deserve a wider audience. Hopefully more retellings of these stories like Kaikeyi will introduce new readers to them. Kaikeyi is a wonderful character, a real force of nature and all too human, even as she meets gods and sees demons slayed, making this not just a myth but a human story of one woman trying to do what she believes is right.
Thank you to Orbit Books and Nazia for my gifted copy of this book.
ramblingmads 