Eschewed Obfuscation

By request of overflood, a mini-review of The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan. I don't have the book with me, so you'll have to subsist on my poor memory.

Hmm. Let's see. It's historical fiction, with nice descriptions but heavy prose at times. The beginning of every chapter is always slow and with a quote that more often then not has no apparent connection to the chapter. It's about Mehrunnisa, the twentieth and last wife of some Indian Emperor; actually a sequel, the first book being The Twentieth Wife, which I haven't read yet. Um... can't think of anything else. So go read it, if it sounds remotely interesting.

Oh, another book this sort of reminds me of, except this one had better writing: Empress Orchid, about Cixi, a Chinese Empress. And if you're interested in Asian historical fiction, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is fantastic. (Sorry, I don't remember any author names.)

Now, off to do my French brochure, which is due on Friday and which I've barely started.