My Review

I have heard and read the story of the Mahabharata before. But I am amazed every time at its intricacies, the complex relationships, each character's emotions, and most of all the grand scale of the events that happen.

As a child, I had a book called 100 stories from the Mahabharata that I have read at least 100 times then I have also read various interpretations of it by several authors, including popular ones like Devdutta Patnaik. But after reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s account I can say I love it the best.

5 reasons why I rated The Place of Illusions a perfect score

And here I’ll give you 5 reasons why I loved it.

1. A woman’s perspective of the story sets this book apart. Other books I read had always been by narrators or Sanjay (the charioteer) or some such individual who had a minuscule relation to the story.
2. The mystery aspect maintained throughout the story through the use of very clever Panchaali telling us that she saw a particular character do a singular action only once again in the future and then we are taken through the story and hooked on because of the suspense built. This is a marvelous writing style.
3. The author raises the questions that I always had reading the Mahabharata as a child and an adult. Like instead of sticking to her statements why did Kunti not take her word back on Panchaali marrying all 5 of her sons, or why did no one in Duryodhana’s court come forward to save Panchaali when she was being humiliated? If these questions puzzled you, you are at the right place.
4. I loved the titles of the chapters – One-word syllables like cosmology, smoke, sari. And know this, they perfectly summarize the chapter. How can someone write that brilliantly?
5. The right length of the book. Mahabharata is a story that can fill a few thousand pages quickly. But to keep it to the length of a commercial novel without missing out on any of the crucial events and characters is a mammoth task. Kudos to the author.

Final Verdict