Kaikeyi

 by Vaishnavi Patel

This is a book which is based on some ancient Indian texts about a woman, Kaikeyi who banished her own son.  The book has some magical realism including some monsters, monsters that can take on human form and some visits from "the gods" etc. in it.

Kaikeyi is the daughter of a Raja.  She has three brothers.  When she is a young girl her mother leaves without any notice.  The children find out that their father has banished their mother because of a suspected indiscretion.  The girl and one of her brothers are especially close.  They are devastated by the loss of their mother.  The brother teaches her some fighting skills as well as how to drive a chariot in warfare.  Women would not learn these skills normally.

The girl's father doesn't pay any attention to her.  One day he tells her she is to become the third wife of another Raja.  She only agrees to the marriage if the Raja will make her son, if she has one, his successor.  When she moves to her new home she keeps to herself but eventually she comes to realize it is better and expected that she will mingle with the other wives and the court and she finds that they welcome her.  There is no jealousy even when she asks to sit in on meetings of the Raja and his counsellors.  The women eventually set up a women's court to help women.  None of the wives get pregnant so a ceremony is held after which all three women have sons.  Kaikeyi son is born second.  She assumes her husband will honour his promise to her especially since she saved his life in a battle.

Kaikeyi has a special power, she can sense how strong the connections are between herself and others, eventually she can see these connections between other people.

It is interesting that all three women consider all the boys as their sons.  Kaikeyi is disturbed to find that the boys are getting tutored by a man who think women have too much power and that things should return to the ways of old.  She gets this tutor dismissed.  However, later the oldest son and one of the other brothers are sent away for education and she is dismayed to learn their tutor is the one she had fired.

When the oldest son returns he convinces his father, who is still young and healthy, that he should retire and make him Raj.  Kaikeyi challenges this when her husband agrees and calls in two "boons" her husband had offered her when she saved his life.  She uses the two boons to have the oldest boy banned for 10 years.  There is some evidence that this oldest son is a god.  However, she and others think he is too immature to rule.  And she wants her son to rule instead.  Her son doesn't want the responsibility.

Things eventually develop that her brother plans to attack the state because his nephew has not taken power.  There is a battle and one of Kaikeyi's sons kills her brother.  She is so upset she retires to her quarters.  The question arises, did all the manipulations she tried prove for good or ill?

It was an interesting, if someone puzzling story at times.