Indu Sundaresan - The Feast of Roses

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For my husband Uday,

For, quite simply, everything.

The mask is offthe charm is wrought

And Selim to his heart has caught,

His Nourmahal, his Harams Light!

And well do vanishd frowns enhance

The charm of every brightend glance;

And dearer seems each dawning smile

For having lost its light awhile:

And, happier now, for all her sighs,

As on his arm her head reposes,

She whispers him, with laughing eyes,

Remember, love, the Feast of Roses.

THOMAS MOORE , Lalla Rookh

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks go, again and always, to the members of my critique groups, and especially to those who so kindly put aside their own work and speed-read through the manuscript: Louise Christensen Zak, Laura Hartman, Joyce OKeefe, Julie Jindal, and Janet Lee Carey.

I believe everyone should have a literary agent in his or her life, and quite preferably someone like mine, Sandra Dijkstra. She is a joy to work with, and very engaged in all aspects of my writing, from early reading of drafts to marketing and championing the book through all of its stages. I am also grateful for the effort Sandys entire agency puts into my work.

The Feast of Roses is thrice blessed at Atria Books. My publisher, Judith Curr, continues to be enormously supportive and friendly, and still willing to put her faith in me. Then there are my two editors: Rosemary Ahern, who worked through the early drafts of the novel and whose vision shaped the final story; and Malaika Adero, who willingly adopted this child of mine and lavishes her care upon it. I am deeply thankful to all three of them.

A disclaimer: I do not play chess. If the chess scene in The Feast of Roses is authentic at all, it is due to these people: Santosh Zachariah, who found the game for me, given strict restrictions on number of moves and ease of comprehension; David Hendricks of the Microsoft Chess Club, who, one afternoon, laid out a chess board on a table in the cafeteria and painstakingly took me through the moves and explained the motivations of the players; and my brilliant nephews Gautam and Karthik, who whisked through the game and had to be begged to slow down to a pace more understandable by their doddering old aunt. If, despite all their efforts, there are still mistakes in the game, I readily claim them as mine.

I could not do without the three women who constantly give me love and strength and form my family: Amma, Anu, and Jaya.

And finally, I must acknowledge the libraries of the King County Library System and the University of Washington Suzzallo and Allen Libraries for their treasure trove of literature on Mughal Indialetters, documents, memoirs, books, and maps, which have allowed me to travel through time and distance without leaving home.

(In Alphabetical Order)