Beneath a Marble Sky: A Love Story

Beneath a Marble Sky: A Love Story
by John Shors

Beneath a Marble Sky: A Love Story
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Book Summary Information

Author: John Shors
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-06
ISBN: 0451218469
Number of pages: 344
Publisher: NAL Trade
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780451218469
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Beneath a Marble Sky: A Love Story

Book Review: An absolute masterpiece of historical fiction
Summary: 5 Stars

Should Oprah ever read this novel, I have no doubts that it would quickly become one of her book club selections - and even then, Beneath a Marble Sky would not get the attention it truly deserves. This novel is, quite simply, a literary masterpiece. Like the timeless monument that forms the story's backdrop, Beneath a Marble Sky is a living testament to love, beauty, and humanity at its best. Epic in scale and disarmingly challenging in its vision, this novel offers an incomparable exploration of romance, truth, nobility, duty, sacrifice, friendship, faith, evil, etc. Its characters easily present themselves before your very eyes, far too human, real, complex, and intricately realized to ever remain locked among the words on the written page.

One of the seven wonders of the modern world, the Taj Mahal is the most famous and breath-taking monument to love on this planet, yet few in the West know very much about the story behind it. Inspired to tell its story in a work of historical fiction, John Shors spent seven years researching, writing, and refining this novel. To make the task especially daunting, he, as a first-time novelist, chose to tell that story from the point of view of Jahanara, the seventeenth century Hindustani empress whose father, Shah Jahan, commissioned the construction of the exquisite mausoleum. Following the outline of historical events that culminated in the controversial reign of Jahanara's tyrannical, Islamo-fascist brother Aurangzeb (Alamgir I), Shors takes the reader on an emotional journey of overwhelming proportions, peeling back the veils of time to reveal amazing insight into a fascinating society and culture whose influence is still felt to this day - and not only in modern-day India and Pakistan. Shah Jahan was a Moslem emperor ruling over a land with a Hindu majority. While surrounded by dangerous enemies, Hindus and Moslems lived together in peace in Hindustan - until, that is, Aurangzeb came to power and founded his reign on Sharia law. The parallels to modern world events are obvious.

Beneath a Marble Sky, though, is primarily the story of Jahanara, a most remarkable woman who, in this work of historical fiction, embodied the best qualities of both her father and mother. A remarkable woman indeed, she understood her duty as a child of the Emperor and never let the fact that she was a woman in a male-dominated society restrain her from doing what was right or, in her eyes, necessary. Her great fortitude and independence caused her almost unbearable pain and suffering over the years, yet she never betrayed herself or her ideals - or chose escape over what she viewed as her duty. Married off at sixteen years of age to a brutal, despicable trader, she despaired of ever experiencing the kind of true love shared by her parents - until, that is, she met Isa, the architect chosen to design and build the Taj Mahal. Theirs was a forbidden love that could have caused great damage should it have been discovered - but she found help from an unexpected place and came to know a degree of true happiness with Isa. Events conspired against her, however, as the blood-thirsty Aurangzeb sought to usurp the throne in place of Dara, Jaha's beloved older brother who wanted nothing more than to bring Hindus and Moslems closer together. It is during the ensuing years of great personal suffering that Jaha truly emerges as the embodiment of her mother's ideas and essence.

A book like this is the next best thing to a time machine, for John Shors truly does take you back to the days when Jaha walked the streets of Agra. Without your even thinking about it, you soon find yourself experiencing everything through Jaha's eyes and ears, from the chaotic activity of a bazaar to the perfumed beauty of a harem to the blood, stink, and sweat of brutal warfare - and, of course, the unsurpassed beauty of the Taj Mahal, which you watch grow from the laying of its foundations to the completion of the domed marble mausoleum which served as the inspiration for the book's title. Fear not that you won't be able to relate to life in this ancient, exotic setting, for Shors quickly immerses you in this world. The moral dilemmas Jaha faces are particularly poignant, making her the most human of protagonists. And the love story is just exquisite. Truly, I couldn't ask for a more rewarding, enthralling reading experience than I found in Beneath the Marble Sky.

Summary of Beneath a Marble Sky: A Love Story

Journey to dazzling seventeenth-century Hindustan, where the reigning emperor, consumed with grief over the tragic death of his beloved wife, commissioned the building of a grand mausoleum as a testament to the marvel of their love. This monument would soon become known as the Taj Mahal?a sight famous around the world for its beauty and the emotions it symbolizes.

Princess Jahanara, the courageous daughter of the emperor and his wife, recounts their mesmerizing tale, while sharing her own parallel story of forbidden love with the celebrated architect of the Taj Mahal. Set during a time of unimaginable wealth and power, murderous sibling rivalries, and cruel despotism, this impressive novel sweeps you away to a historical Hindustan brimming with action and intrigue in an era when, alongside the brutalities of war and oppression, architecture and the art of love and passion reached a pinnacle of perfection.

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