Book Review: The Untold Story of Arundhati and The Black Emperor by Rashmi Singh

About the Book

This is the story of sluttish play of time which loves to stay with rich, famous and powerful and deserts the weak and poor!

A magical, mystical, passionate and sinful love story which played havoc with history-a story which was buried in the banks of Krishna River or somewhere amongst the mountainous valley of the Vindhyas in 7th century A.D.

This tale is intricately woven around Chalukya Parameshwara or The Black Emperor, Pulkasein II, (610A.D-643A.D.) of WesternChalukya dynasty, his untamed passion for wars and his unusual desire for the forgotten enigmatic beauty, Arundhati! The story also traverses the immortal love life of Pulkasein II’s contemporary, Narsimhavarman I of Pallava dynasty and his beloved Sivagami. “But you shall shine more bright in these contents than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time.” ~William Shakespeare

About the Author:

Rashmi Singh is a well known author, avid blogger and a passionate painter. She made her debut with Love’s Journey in 2011 which earned her rave reviews. The Fallen Love is her second fiction. She has also written two self help books, Taming the Restless Mind and Back to School@30. The Untold Story of Arundhati and The Black Emperor-The Sluttish Time is her next fictional offering and fifth book. Rashmi has a Master’s degree in Management and runs a Personality Development Training Centre.

Review:

A highly gripping and addictive piece of work by Rashmi Singh. The author has showed her mettle yet again with her fifth book. I had read another piece of work 'The Fallen Love' and since then had been eagerly waiting for her latest work. When she first told me that she was working on a historical fiction I was a little unsure if I would love the book as much as I loved TFL but her writing has certainly left me amazed. I have no qualms in confessing that historical fiction is a genre that isn't my cup of tea, whether reading or writing. But when I picked up the book, there was no looking back. I just couldn't put it down. There is a different charisma in her writing, somehow she knows the portrayal of sufferings, pain, heartaches so amazingly well. There are a lot of complex emotions involved in this story and Mrs. Singh has left no stone unturned in bringing out each of them so flawlessly.

One thing that I'd like to mention here is the setting of the times where you've just read about and never been is a little difficult but not even a point comes when you would expect a loose end. The times of Pulkasein II of the Chalukyan Dynasty and his cunning ways have been brought into light. You can conquer land but not love, the curse of true love bites you from within, how efficiently the story has been written is when you suddenly realize after finishing off the book that you are in the 21st century. Believe me, I had dreams of Chalukyan Dynasty for almost a week. A well researched book that shows you the power of a woman, her strength even after being considered the weakest of all and to top it all the emotional highs and lows that you find in the book are simple incomparable. There's so much to learn about history which we weren't even aware of and mind you, this book has every element of hypnotism. Yes, it is addictive, it will stay in your mind for a long long time and would help you introspect within yourself and would make you think of the times gone by. Talking about the cover, it totally reflects the enchanting history with the painting being made by the author herself.
Through this review, I'd actually ask the readers to give this genre and book a chance. Take a break from the usual romances you read, this book is going to mesmerize you till the end. A complete package and a recommended read.

(The review is posted at Goodreads as well)

 Get a copy from Uread or Flipkart.