The Palace of Illusions
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Doubleday, HK$192
In her latest novel, The Palace of Illusions, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has reworked the Mahabharata from the feminist perspective. At 1.8 million words, the Mahabharata is one of the longest epic poems in the world and this story of a great war has been handed down through generations of Indians. A major text of Hinduism, it dates back to the 5th century BC. However, like all ancient texts, the Mahabharata's world view is male-centric.
Divakaruni, a best-selling American author of Indian origin, grew up listening to the stories-within-stories of the epic, yet felt unsatisfied by the portrayals of its women characters. The epic had some powerful, complex women who influenced the action in major ways. However, their roles remained subservient to those of their fathers or husbands, brothers or sons. As a child Divakaruni decided that if she ever wrote a book she would place the women at the forefront of the action. That provided the kernel for The Palace of Illusions, where Draupadi tells the epic in her voice, bringing a uniquely female perspective to a story pivoting on larger-than-life male heroes.
Draupadi is an apt choice for a 21st-century reworking. She is widely regarded as a catalyst for the epic war and is often cast as a female Machiavelli. The esteem in which Draupadi is held in Indian society can be gauged from the fact that seldom is a girl named after her.
