This is a
love story not only being developed in the whole romance scheme but also in the history and cultural
points of what India and its people is. The whole point of the story is based and around the history of the great Taj Mahal. You are going to fall in love with the characters and the history of this great country to the point that it will probably give you the hunger necesary to keep searching about India.
"Beneath a marble sky" is written by
John Shors and this was his first work as in writting a book. In this book we have Jahanara narrate us her story of how she grew up in the actual surroundings of a royal family, she being a princess, how blood is not always a good comforting bond of trust since one of her brothers turned out against her and the kingdom, how love can actually go over anything there is and how history and love brought up together can be remembered as a good mix...
The story basically starts with her as an older woman actually reminiscing about her past memmories and how history still haunted her. That's when she starts narrating her story to, besides us, her granddaughters...
It starts with her back in her childhood, sharing with her siblings and family while enjoying the life she had, still questioning everything that surrounded her. She explains how one of her brothers,
Aurangzeb had always getting out of his way to annoy her and to get the kingdom to himself once a turn would come up. After a time passes she starts narrating that her dad had arranged a husband for her and after marrying him and suffer his abuse, her mother dies after giving birth to a new sibling. That's how his dad decides to build a monument as graceful and beautiful as she was and that's how the taj mahal starts. The story turns to Jahanara falling in love with the architect of the project and sneaking around to see him while being married but actually not carrying since her husband didn't care for her. She got pregnant and had her child pretending it was her husbands but still sneaking out to see her true love. After the construction was done her brother had already taken over the kingdom and the story develops behind that... A lot of misfortunes ocur but in the end she gets away and with her true family were they hid for a while actually admiring the work that defines india.
The story is well-written and the story won't bore you to death. Is simple yet filled with a bunch of events that are related to each other. Just the story behind the taj majal and it circling the monument is exquisite...
Some praise from others about the book:
"As luminous a jewel as any that adorn the Taj Mahal's walls." - ForeWord Magazine
"Elegant and lyrical... truly a work of are" - The Des Moines Register
"It is difficult to effectively bring the twenty-first century reader into a seventeenth century world. Short accomplishes this nicely, taking the armchair traveler into some of the intricacies involved in creating a monument that remains one of the architectural and artistic wonders of the world." - The Denver Post
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