Shades of Grey- The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni | Book Review

Published by Doubleday

Genre- Mythological retelling

Tracing Panchaali’s life — from fiery birth and lonely childhood, where her beloved brother is her only true companion; through her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna; to marriage, motherhood and Panchaali’s secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands’ most dangerous enemy — The Palace of Illusions is a deeply human novel about a woman born into a man’s world — a world of warriors, gods and the ever manipulating hands of fate.

My Review

The Palace of Illusions had been on my radar for a while. What made me finally pick it up was the re-airing of Mahabharat on television during the Coronavirus lockdown. 

It was a really fresh take on the epic Mahabharata from the first person point of view of the female lead. I had never given much thought to the epic before and reading the book made me realize that there was no good and bad side in this battle, nothing was black and white. Every character lied in the shades of grey between the two. The most innocent characters were probably the Nishads woman and her sons who all died when the house of lac was burnt.

It was one of those few books where I had no favorite character. None of them was very likable. I liked the younger Panchali in the initial chapters. The portrayal of her character as someone whose most of the decisions in life were taken by other people was nicely done. The thing to note in the story is that although Panchali is a fierce woman, the gender roles in the story are deeply stereotypical. And although that can be attributed to the original Mahabharata, I wish the author had broken the mould.

All the characters which I’d only viewed as legends or myths seemed real and human in the book with extremely human flaws. Yudhishtir for example, had a gambling problem. And Kunti was portrayed to be like a typical hindi tv serial mother in law who didn’t want to share the affections of her sons with their new wife. Though they felt human, they were not very likeable.

The writing was the best part about the book. It was highly immersive and abounding in details. The language was a little simplistic but it flowed with ease. The foreshadowing at the end of almost every chapter became a little excessive after the first few times, although.

The love interest storyline was certainly a controversial concept and may not be for everyone. It was also a trifle bit over done, I think. Draupadi saw the love interest only a handful of times and actual interaction between them was even lesser. Yet, she spends all her adult life pining over him. More than love or lust, I think the reason for it was the forbidden nature of her attraction to the man. And the reverse psychology in the works when Krishna and Dhrishtdyuman tried to meddle before and at the swayamvar. Draupadi’s supposed love for him felt flimsy and unrealistic.

For someone who is not familiar with the original Mahabharata, I would recommend first reading a bit about the epic before picking up this retelling.

I know my review includes more criticism than praise but The Palace of Illusions is the kind of book that I know is going to stay with me for a long time, despite its many flaws. This was my first book by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and I look forward to the next time she writes a mythological retelling.

My Rating-

Cheers,