With infectious enthusiasm and just enough careful attention to detail, Shors give a real sense of the times, bringing the world of imperial Hindustan and its royal inhabitants to vivid life. In Beneath a Marble Sky, readers enter a realm rife with contrasts where love turns into betrayal where war collides with beauty and where the visions of. And it is she who leads a failed effort to defend the throne against a coup by her evil brother, Aurangzeb.

It is she who helps with construction of the magnificent mausoleum for Mumtaz's remains and who falls in love with its architect, Isa, a man whom she can never marry. Beneath a Marble Sky By John Shors Main Characters Emperor Shah Jahan Mughal leader of India and father to Princess Jahanara and rival sons. From then on it is Jahanara who advises the emperor, often instead of her dreamy brother, Dara, who is the rightful heir to the throne. Thus the young woman is able to pick up where her savvy mother left off. Fortunately, she has the foresight to begin preparing her favorite daughter, Jahanara, by instructing the girl in the arts of influence and political strategy. She even travels with him into battle, where she eventually dies giving birth to their 14th child. Although Jahan is the emperor and has many wives, Mumtaz (he calls her Taj) is his soul mate, a constant companion and wise political consultant. From her self-imposed exile, Jahanara recalls growing up in the Red Fort the devotion her parents, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, had for each other and the events that took place during the construction of the fabulous monument to their love. This passionate, lush, and dramatic (Sandra Gulland) debut novel reveals the story behind the.

Shors's spirited debut novel tells the story of the eldest daughter of the 17th-century emperor who built the Taj Mahal.

Beneath a marble sky