I searched all these years for myself—and I only found Ahalya, the woman I was supposed to be born as: unblemished, without any faults. I had no hala in me, no sin, no crime, no guilt. What I had done was to respond to the call of life within me…’

Ahalya. Created by Brahma; married to one of the greatest rishis of all time; desired by the king of gods, Indra. A woman maligned and cursed.

But who was Ahalya? What did she want? Did she have ambitions and desires?

In this sparkling retelling of the well-known legend, bestselling author Kavita Kané draws out the voice of a character that lacked one—even before she was turned to stone. Tracing her journey from a precocious child, to a studious and sheltered princess, to the loving wife of Rishi Gautam, Ahalya’s Awakening delves into the mind of a woman who yearns to control her own destiny. In her tale lies the story of every woman, even today.

‘I learnt to love like a man—to love without feelings. And I shall never forget this lesson.’

Matsyagandha, Daseyi, Yojanagandha — the queen of Hastinapur, Satyavati. Abandoned as a baby, preyed on by a rishi, she hardens herself, determined that the next time she is with a man, she will be the one to win. And win she does: the throne of Hastinapur for herself, and the promise that her sons will be heirs to the kingdom. But at what cost?

In a palace where she is disdained and scorned, Satyavati must set aside her own loss and pain if she is to play the game of politics. She learns to be ruthless, unscrupulous — traits that estrange her from everyone around. Everyone, except the man she cheated of his birthright.

A piercing, insightful look at the grand matriarch of the Kuru family, the woman who set off the sequence of events that ended in the bloody battle of Kurukshetra, The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty will re-align your reading of the Mahabharata.

मैंने पुरुषों की तरह प्रेम करना सीख लिया है—भावना रहित प्रेम!

और मैं इस सीख को कभी नहीं भूलूंगी।

सत्यवती को मत्यगंधा, काली, योजनगंधा, दासेयी जैसे नामों से भी जाना जाता था। वो बचपन से ही पिता द्वारा त्यक्त, पुरुषों द्वारा शोषित और समाज द्वारा अपमानित थी। लेकिन उसने अपनी बुद्धिमत्ता, कूटनीति और संकल्प से हस्तिनापुर के राज सिंहासन को हासिल किया और कुरुवंश की कुलमाता बनी।

कहा जा सकता है कि सत्यवती और राजा शांतनु का विवाह कुरुक्षेत्र के महायुद्ध का कारण बना। यह उपन्यास सत्यवती के जटिल चरित्र का वर्णन करते हुए महाभारत कथा को एक नई दृष्टि से देखने के लिए प्रेरित करता है। यह है कुरुवंश की साम्राज्ञी मत्स्यगंधा की कहानी।