{"id":604,"date":"2015-11-27T01:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T19:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=604"},"modified":"2020-04-04T19:33:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T14:03:11","slug":"book-review-the-palace-of-illusions-by-chitra-banerjee-divakaruni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/book-review-the-palace-of-illusions-by-chitra-banerjee-divakaruni\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is the story of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas who struggles in a man\u2019s world to ascertain her likes and dislikes, resulting in few successes and many miserable failures. In The Palace of Illusions<\/em> by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, we follow Draupadi’s attraction towards Karna, the enemy of the Pandavas, her approach towards her scheming mother in law, Kunti, and her complicated relationship on being married to five husbands at the same time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Palace of Illusions<\/em> tells the story of the epic Mahabharata<\/em> through the eyes of the woman who plays a pivotal role in the battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas \u2013 Draupadi. Here, we see Draupadi as a strong woman born into a patriarchal society that forces her to spend a lonely childhood having her brother as her only companion. Though \u00a0Arjuna, the third of the Pandavas, wins her hand, she is helpless as she is made the wife of all five of the Pandavas by Kunti. Her grief at not being defended by Arjuna, anger in being used as a prize in the gambling games between the Kauravas and the Pandavas and her difficult life living in exile with her husbands in a forest as the obedient wife throw light on different aspects of her personality.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nReview<\/h3>\n