This is a follow-up, though not a sequel, to Patel’s earlier novel Kaikeyi. In that, Patel took a relatively minor player in the greater epic of the Ramayana and retold things from her perspective. Here, Patel does the same trick; this time, it’s the goddess Ganga (otherwise known as the river Ganges) in the Mahabharata epic. As in Kaikeyi, I am totally ignorant of the source material. I know nothing at all of Hindu mythology, so I approached this book purely as a novel. Patel talks in her endnotes about the things she changed, but I’m not going to get into that - she can speak for herself. No doubt someone who is less embarrassingly ignorant on the topic would have a different perspective on the book than me.
The title character of the book, as I said, is the goddess Ganga. She doesn’t involve herself much with humanity directly; she’s more of a passive observer when the book begins, and not a particular fan of these short sighted, destructive humans building their cities on her banks. However, she is cursed to live as a mortal for a time, and marries Shantanu, king of Hastinapura. With him, she conceives a son that will later be known as Bhishma. The dynastic strife in the kingdom of Hastinapura, with Bhishma very much in the middle of it, is the focus of the Mahabharata and of this book.
Through most of the story, Ganga remains primarily an observer, though one who empathizes more and more with humanity despite herself. She loves her son deeply; he is a good man with a strong moral compass, but caught by an oath he swore as a young man to support the Kauravas during the dynastic struggles against the more righteous Pandavas. In the latter part of the book, time is mostly split between Ganga’s point of view and Bhishma’s.
The story told is rather bleak and depressing, as the rivals for the throne of Hastinapura tear the kingdom apart. Bhishma does his best to keep things together, and pursue a path of peace, but ever and again he is helpless (or so he tells himself) to stop things because of his oath of loyalty to the Kauravas. Shiva and Krishna also play a part in events, Krishna rather more directly (and Ganga doesn’t like Shiva very much at all). While Bhishma struggles with despair and to figure out what the right course of action is - if there is such a thing - Ganga can’t do much besides offer him love and comfort.
Overall, it’s an excellent book. I enjoyed Kaikeyi quite a lot, and consider this one a step up even from that.
There was one moment I want to mention, that made me seriously consider putting the book down and walking away. The critical bit of context I was missing for those who don’t want spoilers (and thanks to my fellow /r/Fantasy mod /u/RuinEleint for providing it) is that it’s a not-uncommon trope in Hindu mythology for someone to have to die to escape a curse, which makes sense given the centrality of reincarnation. For those who want more details, here are some 2,000 year old spoilers: >!When Ganga was cursed to live as a mortal, there were 8 minor gods cursed the same. Ganga was to be their mother, and could return to her immortal form after giving birth to all 8. The first 7 she drowned in the river Ganges shortly after birth, freeing them of their curse to live a mortal life and returning them to their divine forms. Shantanu - who was ignorant of all this, and of Ganga’s true identity - stops her before she can drown the 8th, Bhishma. Reading about a mother lovingly, tenderly drowning her newborn baby was … challenging.!< Luckily it’s a short part of the story, and once I was through that it was clear sailing.
Strong recommendation. Looking forward to Patel’s next.
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