The Last Queen

I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads drawing.

This is not the kind of book I normally read, but after this I may start reading more. Just as a point of reference, one reason I grew up loving Stephen King books is because I was raised in Maine and he wrote about areas I knew and lived in. That made those books special.

Ms. Divakaruni also made this book special by it being based on a real person who I knew nothing about. I found the main character compelling. You could feel her love for her brother, and her husband, and the loyalty to those who helped her. You could feel her sorrow and anger at the betrayal of those who were not loyal. And through it all she never felt unrealistic. She wasn't infallible, she was human, and while at times she was living the dream, at other times she was brought very low.

I think what I liked about it so much was that it made a part of history, the colonialization of India by the British, very personal. They say history is written by the victors, but in this case we get a glimpse into the other side of the story.

It felt to me like a kinder, gentler Game of Thrones, but that really is doing it a disservice. I'm not sure what element of historical fiction resonated with me so much, so I'm not sure where to go from here. Was it simply the characterization, or was it also that I find East Indian culture so fascinating? Was it the time period? Was it the fact that it was the voice of the minority instead of the same old stuff we are taught in schools in the United States?

Whatever it was, I really did enjoy it more than I thought I would and unreservedly recommend it.