Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Reviews by Barbara

If you'd like to be able to easily share your reviews with others, please join BookBrowse.
Order Reviews by:
The Palace of Illusions
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Palace of Illusions (4/5/2008)
Although I found the book had many "gaps" I did enjoy reading it. The gaps occurred because many characters were not well defined and because the plot is shaky. What is the main character really seeking? Actually the story line comes down to the relationship between Princess Panchaali and her mother-in-law.

Much emphasis is placed on family devotion yet the Princess gives birth to two sons and no mention is made of them until almost the end of the story. Only two of her five husbands are given any attention at all and one of those are addressed only in passing. The reader learns nothing of the others. The same can be said of the only two people in her life who are faithful to her, her brother and good friend, Krishna.
Despite these flaws the books does hold one's interest.

There is much fantasy in the book but if it the reader is given to this the book is worth reading.
  • Page
  • 1

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Our Evenings
    Our Evenings
    by Alan Hollinghurst
    Alan Hollinghurst's novel Our Evenings is the fictional autobiography of Dave Win, a British ...
  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

When all think alike, no one thinks very much

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.