Beautiful writing, as to be expected, but not as deliciously tense as The Twentieth Wife. The stakes in this book were more centered on a favored wife keeping and then accelerating her social position, which is not something I much care about. I'm not sorry I read it, but was something of a let down to the triumph of the previous book.

4.5 starts

Second book in the Taj trilogy, The Feast of Roses, is a continuation of the passionate, romantic love story of Emperor Jahangir and Mehrunnisa.

Married to Jahangir and bestowed the title Nur Jahan, Mehrunnisa is his 20th & last wife. Theirs is a story of true love, that eventually ends in Jahangir passing on his sovereignty to her. Defying the established norms of womanhood in seventeenth-century India, Mehrunnisa rises to become Padshah Begum, and the strongest in the empire. With rivals both inside the imperial harem and at court, Mehrunnisa has a difficult fight to gain power & wealth.

A woman with a voice, in the 17th century, Mehrunnisa is strong minded & cunning who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. And get she does, sometimes even at the expense of personal sorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to finishing its sequel soon.

Rating - 4.5/5

The second book in the trilogy; longest of all but will still leave you wanting for more. The story follows the events of the first book

Spoiler

which ends after the marriage of Meherunissa and Jehangir

. The story follows the rise and fall of the era as Meherunissa transforms into Nur Jahan and starts participating in the politics along with Jehangir. The storytelling, as usual, is amazing. The content is gripping too. There were various instances where I forgot that I was reading fiction and felt like it was all too real.

The life events of Meherunissa and how she handled all the hurdles and backlash that came her way are something to be inspired from. The strength of her character is shown in all the glory that it deserves. Not just her, the strength of Jehangir's character is also quite evident. The way he isn't bothered by all the comments and gossiping the goes behind his back about how he lets a women rule in his stead is amazingly depicted. His faith in his wife and her judgment is something that should be appreciated.

As always, politics is the best part of the book. How the different factions in the court interact with each other, how they choose sides, and switch sides are all very captivating.

Picking up almost exactly where The Twentieth Wife left off, The Feast of Roses continues the story of Mehrunnisa and Emperor Jahangir.

I slightly preferred the first book to this one, only because this one dwelled so much on politics. I'm not a strategist so reading the machinations of the Mughal court was a bit less interesting to me than the events of Mehrunnisa's earlier life. I also have very little patience for characters who make repetitive mistakes in books, even when those books are based as far as possible on facts. In this one, someone would do something to betray Jahangir. Jahangir would tell them not to do that anymore and threaten them. The person would agree to stop. The person would turn right around and betray Jahangir again. Jahangir would tell the person not to do that anymore.... At what point are there actual consequences? I still don't know.

That aside, it was nice to follow characters I like as they grew older. So often, books stop at the moment when everyone is young and everything looks like it's going to be okay. I like seeing the afterward. And there was a lot going on in India at this time. Rebellions, the first English ambassadors, the Portuguese and English fighting over trading rights, family betrayal, and intrigue among the women of the zenana.

Sneha Mathan beautifully narrated the audiobook. I could listen to her read all day.

I recommend reading these books in order, but if you want to submerse yourself in the lush beauty and history of Mughal India, give this series a try. I'll definitely be reading the last book in this trilogy.

Dropped at 50%
I loved the first book so much. One of my favourite parts about it was the characterization. But this sequel is less personal-- there's less focus on the people and more on the historical events. Sometimes the writing even sounded like a history textbook. I'm really disappointed in this book because I was ready to love it.

a good continuous of the first book. I was happy all the lose ends were tied up! :) Cant wait to read more from this author.