The Mountain of Light
Indu Sundaresan
From the internationally bestselling author of The Twentieth Wife, a novel based on the tumultuous history of a legendary 186-carat diamond and the men and women who possessed it
As empires rose and fell and mighty kings jostled for power, its glittering radiance never dimmed. It is the “Mountain of Light”—the Kohinoor diamond—and its facets reflect a sweeping story of love, adventure, conquest and betrayal. Its origins are the stuff of myth, but for centuries this spectacular gem changes hands from one ruler to another in India, Persia, and Afghanistan. In 1850, the ancient stone is sent halfway around the world where it will play a pivotal role in the intertwined destinies of a boy-king of India and a young queen of England—a queen who claims the Mountain of Light and India itself for her own burgeoning empire, the most brilliant jewels in her imperial crown.
The Mountain of Light is a magnificent story of loss and recovery, sweeping change and enduring truth, wrapped around the glowing heart of one of the world’s most famous diamonds.(from Netgalley)
As empires rose and fell and mighty kings jostled for power, its glittering radiance never dimmed. It is the “Mountain of Light”—the Kohinoor diamond—and its facets reflect a sweeping story of love, adventure, conquest and betrayal. Its origins are the stuff of myth, but for centuries this spectacular gem changes hands from one ruler to another in India, Persia, and Afghanistan. In 1850, the ancient stone is sent halfway around the world where it will play a pivotal role in the intertwined destinies of a boy-king of India and a young queen of England—a queen who claims the Mountain of Light and India itself for her own burgeoning empire, the most brilliant jewels in her imperial crown.
The Mountain of Light is a magnificent story of loss and recovery, sweeping change and enduring truth, wrapped around the glowing heart of one of the world’s most famous diamonds.(from Netgalley)
My Thoughts
I know nothing - zero, zip, nada - about the history between England and India. I also did not know anything about the Kohinoor diamond. This book tells a combination of both in a very interesting way.
The books begins with the story of who owns the Kohinoor diamond in the early 1800s. Each chapter ends with how the diamond gets passed to the next owner. The subsequent chapters move forward in time, spinning a little tale surrounding the diamond, until it finally comes to rest with the Queen of England in 1850. With each chapter, we learn a lot about India, it’s culture and the how the British moved to eventually annex the Punjab empire with it’s other holdings in India.
This is historical fiction that I found fascinating. I was constantly googling some of the names and places mentioned to understand a little more of the background of what I was reading. This book has certainly peeked my interest of this complex relationship between these two countries. I’m very glad I read this well written novel.
My thanks to Atria Books, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
Publish date: October 8, 2013.
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