Veena’s review of Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran
Historical Fiction published by Touchstone Books 03 Mar 15
Being Indian, I can’t resist books by Indian authors and/or books with Indian themes or characters. While many books fall short of expectations, this story is told in loving yet unbiased detail about the events of the times. Most importantly, both Rani Lakshmibai and Sita are strong and independent women, which is rare for the times. I particularly enjoyed Sita’s character and the transformation her life goes through as she moves from a secluded life in a small village to a woman warrior in the court of Jhansi. The narration is so vivid that I feel like I lived the life with the characters.
The queen is a strong role model in modern day India as well as for her own times. She was well read and well spoken and despite being born and brought up in seclusion in a small village, Sita is also well read and, most importantly, she speaks, reads and writes English, with William Shakespeare being her inspiration in all things.
The winds of war and colonization have not yet borne fruit and yet all the signs are there. The British are rapidly moving from their role as traders into a more aggressive enforcer role that eventually leads to the colonization of India. The Indian are treated as second class citizens, even if some of the British are sheepish about it, as is evidenced when the guardsmen and women from Jhansi are isolated in their own part of the ship and not allowed to mingle with the white people.
Sita, who for a large part of her life has not traveled outside the courtyard of her father’s house, goes all the way to England to the court of Queen Victoria. This girl, when she counted her pennies and borrowed her first silk outfit to fit in, as a member of the Queen’s guard, now bejeweled and clad in silks and furs, stands in Buckingham palace to argue the case for Jhansi. The situation continues to deteriorate in India and Queen Lakshmibai is forced into taking up arms to protect her kingdom. As she is betrayed by those she trusted and guarded and defended by others, the queen finally loses her life in the midst of the atrocities that were committed by both sides in the battle.
This history is not totally unknown to me, but I really love the story as told by Ms. Moran.
Grade: A
Summary:
From the internationally bestselling author of Nefertiti and Cleopatra’s Daughter comes the breathtaking story of Queen Lakshmi—India’s Joan of Arc—who against all odds defied the mighty British invasion to defend her beloved kingdom.
When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the mid-nineteenth century, it expects a quick and easy conquest. India is fractured and divided into kingdoms, each independent and wary of one another, seemingly no match for the might of the English. But when they arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, the British army is met with a surprising challenge.
Instead of surrendering, Queen Lakshmi raises two armies—one male and one female—and rides into battle, determined to protect her country and her people. Although her soldiers may not appear at first to be formidable against superior British weaponry and training, Lakshmi refuses to back down from the empire determined to take away the land she loves.
Told from the unexpected perspective of Sita—Queen Lakshmi’s most favored companion and most trusted soldier in the all-female army—Rebel Queen shines a light on a time and place rarely explored in historical fiction. In the tradition of her bestselling novel, Nefertiti, and through her strong, independent heroines fighting to make their way in a male dominated world, Michelle Moran brings nineteenth-century India to rich, vibrant life.
