Book Review of Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel

 

Name of Book: Goddess of the River

Author: Vaishnavi Patel

ISBN: 978-0-7595-5734-5

Publisher: Redhook

Type of book: India, -3000s, retelling of Mahabharata,  Hastinapur, family feud, war, secrets, drowning children, marriage, prophecy, getting used to life on earth 

Year it was published: 2024

Summary:

A powerful reimagining of the story of Ganga, goddess of the river, and her doomed mortal son, from Vaishnavi Patel, author of the instant New York Times bestseller Kaikeyi .

A mother and a son. A goddess and a prince. A curse and an oath. A river whose course will change the fate of the world.

Ganga, joyful goddess of the river, serves as caretaker to the mischievous godlings who roam her banks. But when their antics incur the wrath of a powerful sage, Ganga is cursed to become mortal, bound to her human form until she fulfills the obligations of the curse.

Though she knows nothing of mortal life, Ganga weds King Shantanu and becomes a queen, determined to regain her freedom no matter the cost. But in a cruel turn of fate, just as she is freed of her binding, she is forced to leave her infant son behind.

Her son, prince Devavrata, unwittingly carries the legacy of Ganga’s curse. And when he makes an oath that he will never claim his father’s throne, he sets in motion a chain of events that will end in a terrible and tragic war.

As the years unfold, Ganga and Devavrata are drawn together again and again, each confluence another step on a path that has been written in the stars, in this deeply moving and masterful tale of duty, destiny, and the unwavering bond between mother and son.

Characters:

Basically there are a lot of characters, but main ones that made an impression on me are Ganga, Bhishma and Karna, who are the Kourava family and allies. Ganga is best described as a true goddess who tends to fight against destiny and who sees humans as less than. Bhishma is her son who has made a terrible vow and is determined not to break it no matter what. Karna is best described as hot headed and very temperamental who also sticks to his vows at the cost of the truth and inheritance. I definitely didn't really understand the purpose of Khrishna maybe because I hadn't really encountered him yet?  

Theme:

Things may not work out as we wished them to

Plot:

The story is in first and third person narratives. First person is of Ganga and third person is of Bhishma. The tale begins of Ganga coming down to earth (that was not covered in first volume) and of her life as a river until involvement of the Vasus. I think in this instance I didn't appreciate the events that followed and no matter how much in this story Ganga tried to find excuses and reasons for her actions, I couldn't buy them. (In Mahabharata Ganga is given directions on what to do and isn't left in the dark on what is the path she should take.  In this book she is literally stumbling in the dark trying to figure out what to do. In Mahabharata she is also warned about Bhishma's future.) At some point the story jumps back and forth between Bhishma and Ganga and the events are very rushed or are cropped. I am of opinion that Ganga the human didn't, well, feel very necessary to the story and its not because of her gender, its mainly that after the event of birth of Bhishma she has next to nothing to do. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

N/A

Opinion:

First of all I'm not of Hindu ancestry or religion, thus I cannot presume that what I think is valid in terms of what people of that religion or ancestry think. I also have recently began to read Mahabharata (so far one volume out of ten translated by Bibek Debroy, and honestly I should have given credit to the author for actually guiding me towards Bibek Debroy version.) Most of the novel encompasses the first volume and I hope its ok for me to say that I find the story a bit disappointing. (Again, I only read first volume which covered most of the events involving Bhishma and Ganga. I didn't read the events covering Karna's story or latter half of the tale.) Maybe because I hadn't gotten to the war part but ended the story on Pandavas coming back to the forest, I felt as if the second half of the tale was good, although, well a bit rushes and lacking (I also liked how she cleared up the parts of what was going on and why the war was necessary, of which Mahabharata wasn't that successful  so far, in my opinion) At times when I was reading, I got the impression that the story was quarter of the abridged version (which she mentions in the book) which is a version of the whole story. (Thus a five thousand plus page epic story cut into an 800 plus page story cut into a 400 page story) Perhaps to dip toes on whether or not a reader will be interested in Mahabharata, then yes,  I would recommend, but for a full yet succinct version, it does not do a good job. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)