I’m a white middle-aged British male it’s hard for me to put myself in the shoes of Kaykeyi, and neither is this a story that my cultural identity has been steeped in. I must confess, my recollection of the details of the Ramayana is insufficient to fully appreciate the full scope of Vaishnavi Patel’s tale. Whilst there are elements of magic and the supernatural in the story, it feels more like a spiritual journey than a fantasy tale, whilst also managing to be a strong critic of male-dominated politics, religion, and decision-making. Much of the time the novel feels like a tale of the conversations that went on in adjacent rooms to the main epic an aspect I really liked, as it broadens our understanding of the original epic. Kaikeyi opens during the titular character’s childhood, and deals with her formative years, marriage to Rama’s father, and then her role in his Kingdom and as a mother to his children. The story of the Ramayana is obliquely referred to. I’m not sure Kaikeyi is what I would call a fantasy novel, any more than many of the epic Greek tales that have also been reworked. When I stumbled across Kaikeyi just before Christmas last year, I knew I had to read it. Since then I’ve read another more classical retelling and one or two other modern presentations. (There are actually 8 now, but the last two never made it to print in the UK.) I was mesmerized by the entire six-volume series. It was only a few years later when I discovered some reprints with classic Indian art on the covers did I take the plunge. Banker, the first volume in a fantasy retelling of the Indian Epic.

In the fantasy section, we had a book called Prince of Ayodhya by Ashok K. I first encountered the Ramayana about 20 years ago when working as a bookseller. The reframing of famous epics, focusing on female protagonists has been a very popular publishing motif in recent years, and I was intrigued to see what Kaikeyi would bring. A villain of the piece, though, of course, not the villain of the piece. In classic interpretations of the tale, she is the stepmother responsible for Rama’s 10-year exile from Ayodhya. It is a reframing of the Ramayana, telling the story from the point of view of one of the mothers of Rama’s brothers. Next though, was a book that I think deserves highlighting as much as possible Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel. That was a great book, but I haven’t had time to review it. The first title I read was R.F Kunag’s The Poppy War, whilst I waited for the highly acclaimed Babel to arrive in paperback. One of my 2023 reading resolutions was to read more fantasy novels.

Kaikeyi by vaishnavi patel