The Last Queen
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WINNER of the 2022 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WORKING WOMEN AWARD for BEST FICTION OF THE YEAR! LONGLISTED for 2022 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD! She rose from commoner to become the last reigning queen of India’s Sikh Empire. In this dazzling novel, based on true-life events, bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni presents the unforgettable story of Jindan, who transformed herself from daughter of the royal kennel keeper to powerful monarch. Sharp-eyed, stubborn, and passionate, Jindan was known for her beauty. When she caught the eye of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, she was elevated to royalty, becoming his youngest and last queen—and his favorite. And when her son, barely six years old, unexpectedly inherited the throne, Jindan assumed the regency. She transformed herself from pampered wife to warrior ruler, determined to protect her people and her son’s birthright from the encroaching British Empire. Defying tradition, she stepped out of the zenana, cast aside the veil, and conducted state business in public, inspiring her subjects in two wars. Her power and influence were so formidable that the British, fearing an uprising, robbed the rebel queen of everything she had, but nothing crushed her indomitable will. An exquisite love story of a king and a commoner, a cautionary tale about loyalty and betrayal, a powerful parable of the indestructible bond between mother and child, and an inspiration for our times, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings alive one of the most fearless women of the nineteenth century, one whose story cries out to be told.
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I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads drawing.
This is not the kind of book I normally read, but after this I may start reading more. Just as a point of reference, one reason I grew up loving Stephen King books is because I was raised in Maine and he wrote about areas I knew and lived in. That made those books special.
Ms. Divakaruni also made this book special by it being based on a real person who I knew nothing about. I found the main character compelling. You could feel her love for her brother, and her husband, and the loyalty to those who helped her. You could feel her sorrow and anger at the betrayal of those who were not loyal. And through it all she never felt unrealistic. She wasn't infallible, she was human, and while at times she was living the dream, at other times she was brought very low.
I think what I liked about it so much was that it made a part of history, the colonialization of India by the British, very personal. They say history is written by the victors, but in this case we get a glimpse into the other side of the story.
It felt to me like a kinder, gentler Game of Thrones, but that really is doing it a disservice. I'm not sure what element of historical fiction resonated with me so much, so I'm not sure where to go from here. Was it simply the characterization, or was it also that I find East Indian culture so fascinating? Was it the time period? Was it the fact that it was the voice of the minority instead of the same old stuff we are taught in schools in the United States?
Whatever it was, I really did enjoy it more than I thought I would and unreservedly recommend it.
