Synopsis "The Garden of Heaven a Novel (in English)"
DescriptionA magnificent stone frieze-built up into curves and flourishes, peacocks andcurving vines and trailing leaves-runs like a thread through this gripping, sweepingsaga that spans a period of two hundred years between two invasions of Dilli-thatof Muhammed of Ghur in 1192 CE, and Taimur in the winter of 1398. For whomwas it carved, and what happened to it as family fortunes and dynasties rose and fell?Ten-year-old Madhav comes to Dilli after his world is torn apart by the battlein which Prithviraj Chauhan loses his throne and his life, paving the way for theDelhi Sultanate. In the teeming city, Madhav starts a career as a stone carver, andthe craft becomes a manifestation of his very being. It eventually inspires him tocreate his masterpiece, a stone frieze that he calls the Garden of Heaven.Running parallel to Madhav's story is that of another family of stone carvers-Nandu, his arrogant daughter Gayatri, and Gayatri's daughter, Jayshree, whobefriends an unusual, headstrong young woman who wears the clothes of a manand one day leads her army into battle as Razia Sultan. A gentle courtier namedAmir Khusro also plays a part in this grand drama, as does Ibrahim, whoseforbidden love for Chhoti brings two families together. And then there is poorand lonely Shagufta, who rescues Nasiruddin, a wounded Timurid soldier, and todistract him from his agony, tells the story of her city and herself....A richly human, layered and dramatic narrative about Delhi on the thresholdof a new phase in its long and eventful history, The Garden of Heaven holds thereader in thrall till the end.
