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Kaikeyi: A Novel
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Hachette Audio 2022
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Description

"With a graceful, measured elegance" (The New York Times), this lyrical novel reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the ancient epic the Ramayana, giving voice to an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.

I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.

So begins Kaikeyi's story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.

Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.

But as the evil from her childhood tales threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.

PRAISE FOR KAIKEYI

"A powerful, feminist retelling of the epic...Patel resets the balance of power, creating an unforgettable heroine who understands that it isn't necessarily kings or gods who change history."The Washington Post

"Easily earns its place on shelves alongside Madeline Miller's Circe."Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Utterly captivating from start to finish." ―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart

"Brave, compassionate and powerful." ―Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

"A lyrical and evocative retelling, full of power and grace." ―Ava Reid, author of The Wolf and the Woodsman

"Compulsively readable and infinitely compassionate." ―Roshani Chokshi, author of The Gilded Wolves

"A thought-provoking, nuanced new look at one of humanity's most foundational stories." —Shannon Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

  • A BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB PICK
  • "MYTHIC RETELLING AT ITS BEST." (R. F. Kuang, author of Babel)

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    Format:
    OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
    Edition:
    Unabridged
    Street Date:
    04/26/2022
    Language:
    English
    ISBN:
    9781549193651
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    Citations
    APA Citation (style guide)

    Vaishnavi Patel. (2022). Kaikeyi: A Novel. Unabridged Hachette Audio.

    Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

    Vaishnavi Patel. 2022. Kaikeyi: A Novel. Hachette Audio.

    Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

    Vaishnavi Patel, Kaikeyi: A Novel. Hachette Audio, 2022.

    MLA Citation (style guide)

    Vaishnavi Patel. Kaikeyi: A Novel. Unabridged Hachette Audio, 2022.

    Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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    "With a graceful, measured elegance" (The New York Times), this lyrical novel reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the ancient epic the Ramayana, giving voice to an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.

    I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.

    So begins Kaikeyi's story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.

    Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.

    But as the evil from her childhood tales threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.

    PRAISE FOR KAIKEYI

    "A powerful, feminist retelling of the epic...Patel resets the balance of power, creating an unforgettable heroine who understands that it isn't necessarily kings or gods who change history."The Washington Post

    "Easily earns its place on shelves alongside Madeline Miller's Circe."Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    "Utterly captivating from start to finish." ―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart

    "Brave, compassionate and powerful." ―Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

    "A lyrical and evocative retelling, full of power and grace." ―Ava Reid, author of The Wolf and the Woodsman

    "Compulsively readable and infinitely compassionate." ―Roshani Chokshi, author of The Gilded Wolves

    "A thought-provoking, nuanced new look at one of humanity's most foundational stories." —Shannon Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

    AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

  • A BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB PICK
  • "MYTHIC RETELLING AT ITS BEST." (R. F. Kuang, author of Babel)

  • reviews
        • premium: True
        • source: Publisher's Weekly
        • content:

          Starred review from December 6, 2021
          Patel’s mesmerizing debut shines a brilliant light on the vilified queen from the Ramayana. As the only girl of eight royal siblings, Kaikeyi grows up knowing her value as a person is determined by her eventual marriage. When her mother is banished, Kaikeyi is forced to take up her duties in the royal court. In between all her new work, she turns to the palace’s scrolls on magic and learns how to enter the Binding Plane, where she can exert a magical influence over others using the invisible strings that connect her to them. Then Kaikeyi is unwillingly married off to the Raja of Kosala, where her lack of friends and allies means the bonds of the Binding Plane operate differently. Still, Kaikeyi earns her place at her husband’s side, wins the love of her subjects, and raises a son, Rama. Throughout her life, Kaikeyi often recalls a story her mother told of a woman who could not avoid the punishment of man, even when the fault of her actions fell upon a god himself—but the tale’s true message is lost on her until it’s too late. Readers familiar with the source text will be wowed by Patel’s reimagining, while those new to the story will be won over by its powerful, multilayered heroine and epic scope. This easily earns its place on shelves alongside Madeline Miller’s Circe. Agent: Lucienne Diver, the Knight Agency.

        • premium: True
        • source: Kirkus
        • content:

          April 15, 2022
          As mythological women like Circe and Ariadne find their ways onto the bookshelves, here comes a reimagining of Kaikeyi, an interesting antihero. She was one of the most despised queens of Indian mythology, pitting herself against the gods in the epic poem the Ramayana. A pivotal character, Kaikeyi demands that Rama be sent into exile to delay his ascent to the throne. Patel recasts the Ramayana as a power struggle between women who want to participate in politics and public service and men who would rather they stay home, obedient and subservient. Patel begins her novel with the wrenching moment when young Kaikeyi, only daughter to the king of Kekaya, wakes up to find her mother has been banished with no explanation. In her absence, Kaikeyi decides to develop herself as a warrior. We feel her pain when her twin brother, Yudhajit, tells her she's more a brother than a sister to him: "Don't take offense. It's a compliment. Who wants to be a woman?" Soon it's time for her to marry, and her father, who rarely speaks to her, demands she wed the childless Dasharath, king of Kosala, who lives far away in the city of Ayodhya. She agrees to take her place beside Dasharath's two other wives if he promises that it will be her son who will ascend to the throne. As she comes of age, Kaikeyi learns in the palace scrolls that she has magical powers of connecting to others in a Binding Plane. There, she uses invisible strings to deepen her bonds with her husband. Then, through an intervention by the gods, the three queens give birth to four sons, Kaikeyi's own being Bharata. She develops close relationships with each boy, including the true heir to the throne, the great Rama, who calls her ma. The young prince is immature, confused by his own divine powers and the conservative stewardship of a holy man. Kaikeyi's desire to teach him the consequences of youth and patriarchy leads to a showdown between them. Patel's Kaikeyi is not a spiteful woman who wants to place her son Bharata on the throne for her own power. Instead, she is afraid of the growing influence of godmen in her kingdom. She is a revolutionary who attempts to be an equalizing figure, trying to find a balance for her citizens in a patriarchal kingdom. With spellbinding twists and turns, this is a political novel and very much a feminist one.

          COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

        • premium: True
        • source: AudioFile Magazine
        • content: Soneela Nankani is often featured in South Asian titles. This fictional account of one part of the RAMAYANA, an ancient Hindu tale, is further proof that she's an excellent narrator. Nankani presents the lively, young princess Kaikeyi, who is maddeningly hemmed in and ignored by the sexist society she's grown up in. Listeners will feel sympathy for Kaikeyi as she fights to hold on to her place in the social order despite her father's capricious ways. Nankani's narration has a dreamy tone in Kaikeyi's early years and takes on harder edges as Kaikeyi discovers magical abilities in her rise to warrior queen. Fans of world literature will delight in this unique tale and strong performance. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
        • premium: True
        • source: Library Journal
        • content:

          September 1, 2022

          Patel's debut novel reimagines the life of the infamous queen Kaikeyi from the Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic poem that's a key legend of Hinduism. Patel's portrayal of the brave but flawed queen more sympathetically examines her entire life and what compels her to exile her stepson Rama from the kingdom. As a child abandoned by her mother, Kaikeyi discovers scrolls filled with magic and develops her own power: she can enter the binding plane to view the strength of her connections to people around her and send psychic suggestions through them. As an adult forsaken by the gods, Kaikeyi uses her abilities to gain influence in the kingdom of Ayodhya and leverages her position to make a better world for women--until her plans clash with the gods' destiny for her family. The audiobook is long but will fly by; narrator Soneela Nankani keeps the pace up and delivers has nicely accented pronounciations of Hindi names. VERDICT Patel's reimagining takes listeners on a fantastical journey and introduces them to gods.--Laura Trombley

          Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

        • premium: True
        • source: Booklist
        • content:

          Starred review from February 1, 2022
          In the traditional epic the Ramayana, Kaikeyi is immortalized for using her two boons to banish golden, beloved Rama and ensure that the crown would go first to her own son. Despite Rama's later forgiveness of her actions, Kaikeyi has gone down in history as a jealous and power-hungry woman; this novel reimagines that narrative. Here, Kaikeyi uses her talent with a chariot and a magical gift of manipulation and intuition to gain power and improve the lot of women within Kosala, all despite being forsaken by the gods. She grows close to Raja Dasharath and keeps their kingdom from plunging into disaster more than once--fighting demons and making subtle moves to maintain peace. But the gods have their own plans: they want war, bloody and black and white, against the asuras. The gods have chosen Rama as their hero--and Ravana, Kaikeyi's friend, will be their villain. The novel is compelling and rich, drawing on the source material while furnishing its characters with new complexity and motivations. Fans of Madeline Miller's Circe (2018) will fall hard for this story about a woman determined to do what's right for her kingdom and its women, walking the fine line between rebellion and convention.

          COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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    "With a graceful, measured elegance" (The New York Times), this lyrical novel reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the ancient epic the Ramayana, giving voice to an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.

    I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.

    So begins Kaikeyi's story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.

    Desperate for...

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