A novella version of 'City of Victory' broadcast by BBC Radio 4. This has grown into the story of three women in the court of King Krishnadeva Raya. While the gypsy Jehaan seeks to escape and go back to her own land, the queen seeks to escape from her inevitable end on the king's funeral pyre. Only Meherbanu, their spiritual mentor can help them accept their fate.
Excerpt
ehaan was fascinated by the spectacle, but her eyes searched for those green eyes. Could she see him in the crowd? Could she slip away? Like stars they passed through the night in a train that seemed eternal. Torches flared everywhere, music, wild and unrestrained pulsated.
Covering her face with her mantle, she moved away from the pavilion, threading her way through the crowd. The rich, dark blood of twenty four buffaloes and a hundred and fifty sheep bubbled and steamed into the night like some evil miasma. Men, their naked torsos splattered with blood, hacked through the great necks of the bellowing, gurgling bulls in a single sweep of their swords. The limbs of the animals twitched in the throes of death, eyes rolled up to show terrified whites and Jehaan hurried from the scene, retching, overwhelmed by blood,searching in the rising light of a million stars. Her imagination was on fire.The one she sought was a sorcerer. One day he would find her and reveal himself, and he would be as beautiful as the god, Osiris.
Professional Reviews
By Ann Hite for The Feminist Review
Review by Ann Hite for The Feminist Review
Anita Saran’s short story, City of Victory, is one of the best crafted stories I’ve read in a long time. She has a knack of bringing the setting to the forefront without intrusion. To call this piece of work a short story is an understatement. I find it to be more of a novella.
The story is set in sixteenth century Vijayanagar, a city in South India known as Hampi today. Jehaan is a gypsy girl, who is forced to be one of the maids of honor to the queen. This gives her great privilege: jewels, fine clothes, and good food. But Jehann is not satisfied to be part of this glittering procession. She is an Egyptian and wants to return home to her father and estranged lover. She longs for the fresh air and earth, not a stone floor palace.
Meherbanu escapes a horrible life when she approaches the king and suggests that she care for his zenana (his group of concubines and the queen). He says that he will put her in charge because of her boldness. She becomes the mentor and mother to the women. But what happens to a group of women protected by one man, the king? The author handles this complexity with beauty.
City of Victory had its debut as a broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004. So many of the images haunted me and remained in my mind long after I read the work. The photos that illustrate the book are as interesting as the characters. I’m delighted to say I found this ebook a wonderful experience.
A delightfully rare Historical Novel. 85% a biography of a spy, musician, mother and her neice trapped behind German lines in World War I. This background led to a diplomatic post in World War II. Aged 92, Vera disclosed her past life one year before
Encountering danger, romance, heartache and tragedy, Catherine Merit strives to fit into a world filled with prejudice, hatred and violence where she is forced to kill a man in order to save herself. Third book of the Indignities Series.
