Review: Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen

Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen by Kavita Kané
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been wanting to read Kavita Kane's books since long, and finally have started with Karna's Wife. Karna’s Wife represents imaginative Indian historical fiction writing.

Mahabharata is an epic of immense complexity. While the summary rendering is that of the fight of good vs bad/evil, the situations and moral dilemmas which the characters face is extremely complex. A situation and dilemma which the Mahabharata raises, has found no easy solutions even today - what if those at the highest seats of power do not have the right values / behaviour and lead the entire kingdom to disaster (as Duryodhana / Shakuni and the Kauravas did), dragging many upright and moral citizens (such as Dronacharya, Bhishma, Karna and others) in the flow.

Karna is a character who is one of the most fascinating in the epic. He fights an uphill battle right from birth – is given away and brought up by poor parents (his father being a charioteer) at a time when your parental heritage mattered a lot. He is up against a lot – his upbringing, devious friends and being bound by loyalty, blunders due to feeling mistreated since long, others seeking to disarm him by taking advantage of his generosity…..

The story is told from the eyes of Uruvi, who is Karna’s second wife. This is a character you do not encounter in mainstream narration of the Mahabharata. Though of royal heritage and also close to the Pandavas, she chooses to marry Karna – impressed by his personality and skills. This is not exactly an ideal situation – being a second wife (Karna’s first wife being Vrushali), and more importantly a man scorned as one not worthy of intermingling in the highest circles. While she loves him deeply, she watches helplessly as she sees their life entering turbulent times. Especially after Karna’s taunts Draupadi leading to Duhasana’s attempt to disrobe her. Uruvi is wild with Karna – how could a man for whom righteousness of conduct was important, do something like this, despite the fact that Draupadi insults him during her Swayamvar. Each person is the sum total of his experiences – Karna bears the brunt of discrimination right from his birth. Uruvi realizes, as does Karna, that war is certain to follow, which will almost certainly mean Karna’s death, standing by the one friend Duryodhana who gave him the respect almost everyone else denied.

There are portions which deviate from mainstream narration – Uruvi’s character & marriage to Karna itself, Kunti’s characterization, Bhishma’s motivation for keeping Karna away from the battlefield, and aspects of Draupadi’s character, and her relation with Karna. I was a little disappointed at some of the characterization – especially Kunti’s, and also Arjuna & Draupadi.
And yet, the book largely maintains the ethos of the epic. The writing is good, as is the strong buildup of Uruvi’s character. Some of the characterization on the Pandavas side could have been better. Krishna’s advice to Arjuna and his finding his balance could have found mention as well.

If Indian historical fiction interests you (specifically the Mahabharata), this is a great book to read.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.


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