Dr. Maitreyi Das
2020 HonoreeArts & Sciences
On the occasion of Dr. Maitreyi Das's tenure and promotion to Associate Professor
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The Palace of Illusions: A Novel Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Literature & Fiction
Why I Chose This Book

I wanted to pick a contemporary Indian women writer. I read this book a long while back and found the concept very captivating. Most epics or mythologies are narrated from the male point of view. This book narrates the Mahabharata, the most famous Indian epic, from the female perspective. The narrator, a major woman character in the story, is unapologetic about the way she feels, her beliefs, and her actions. She does not fit with the usual depiction of women in traditional stories with their unconditional love and incessant self-sacrifice. She is her own person forced into certain situations, not of her choosing, and reacts accordingly. She is a true heroine with shades of grey and this is a wonderful tribute to all the feminists out there.

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