Journey to dazzling seventeenth-century Hindustan, where the reigning emperor, consumed with grief over the tragic death of his beloved wife, commissions the building of the Taj Mahal as a testament to the marvel of their love. Princess Jahanara, their courageous daughter, recounts their mesmerizing tale, while sharing her own parallel tale of .. more forbidden love with the celebrated architect of the Taj Mahal. This impressive novel sweeps readers 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.
This Book took me a bit longer to read than I thought it would or should, but I think most of that had to do with starting the new job my brain felt like it was going to explode most of the time. But without further adeiu time to write the review. I did a bit of research with this book because I cannot help but be historical in that, and while the names of the people and where they stood is rather accurate, I believe a great deal of the rest of the love story is not accurate, that said the author warns against that right in the beginning of the book. So if you can ignore those glaring historical inaccuracies you will find yourself in a beautiful world. The Taj Mahal is one of thee if not the most beautiful building in the world, and to think it is a mausoleum and so a tribute to the woman who it holds is something that is sure to tug at your heart strings. Beneath a marble sky paints a picture of love, loss devotion and hardship. It truly puts the reader into the middle of a war torn time that made for an instable area, and yet among it all was the Taj Mahal and a showing that true love can truly conquer all even death. If you love a good historical story and want to feel close to the characters this is the book for you. I was saddened when the book ended and kept demanding more pages to appear at the end. I wanted to know more, I wanted to follow the story and its characters for longer.
