Reviews for Beneath a Marble Sky

The average rating for Beneath a Marble Sky based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-04-08 00:00:00 Louise Mueller I picked up Beneath A Marble Sky because of the cover. I'm so glad I did. BAMS is a near perfect story. Love, hate, betrayal, intrigue, duty, honor, played out against the magnificent backdrop of Agra, India, the city of the Taj Mahal, - I fell in love with this story from page one. Told in first person from Jahanara's point of view, I must confess to being pleasantly surprised that a male author could write a female character so well. Perhaps that's a bit strong. What I mean is that Shors does an excellent job of making Jahanara- the central focus of the story- come to life. Her thoughts and motives were totally believable, and that's just not something I often feel is expressed well when a main female character is written by a man- especially when the entire story is from her POV. Jahanara is a wonderful heroine. She is wise, intelligent, fearless, loyal and noble- and based on the real-life Daughter of the Emperor. Her story is woven into the tale of the building of the Taj Mahal, the grand Mausoleum built out of her father's love for her mother. Things are not perfect for her; her arranged marriage to her burtish husband is a sham, and her power hungry brother is down right nasty. Things happen to her that make you want to scream, but, through her keen intelligence, she always manages to find a measure of revenge- no matter how hollow it feels in the end. And. She finds beauty and love in the darkest of places. I feel the author does an excellent job of weaving fiction into actual historical events- and I came away learning something in the process. Yet the epic feel of it left you with no doubt you were reading fiction. (In fact, if it was longer and more overwrought, I'd put this up there with the novels that became TV mini series back in the day- think Thornbirds and Shogun!) If you like historical fiction, especially historical fiction set in exotic locales, then this book is for you! 4.5 out of 5

Review # 2 was written on 2008-01-27 00:00:00 Heidi Kauppine This is a love story based in 17th century Hindustan - but not just your average love story. Finally, a love-story author that portrays a woman in a positive light! Not just hopelessly in love but also intelligent, loyal to her family (and her father's empire), truly selfless and very realistic with all of her emotional ups and downs. This drama has the main character battling brothers and a disastrous arranged marriage, all the while fulfilling the needs of her father and trying to maintain a relationship with the man she truly loves. I could not put this book down. It had action, drama, romance (without being too mushy), everything!