Book Review - Lanka's Princess by Kavita Kane

Everyone deserves to have their story told.

But sadly, a very few characters get a chance.

Kavita Kane’s Lanka’s Princess is about one such character who proves to be the pivot to one of the most important epics of our country. But she has only been depicted in shades of black in our Ramayana.

Lanka’s Princess is a saga of how Shurpanakha, the evil one, became what she eventually did and throws light on those stepping stones which made her what we eventually got to know about in the epic Ramayana.

As they all say, no one is born bad, but it is the circumstances which make people what they are. Shurpanakha, tough as the nails she was ironically known for, was a woman with a wild and free mind of her own and perhaps that became the reason for her ignominy, in the largely patriarchal times that she was born in.

Putting her actions in context of her situation and her times, the author has painted a heartening biography of this much hated character in Indian mythology.

Succinct writing and a breezy pace made this an extremely interesting read for me, unlike the other mythology driven writing we see nowadays, which is filled with unnecessary details.

I’ve never read the author’s writing earlier but now, after having finished Lanka’s Princess, I am keen to know more about Karna’s Wife and Sita’s Sister.

'I received a copy from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.'