The Ivory Throne

I'm someone who hates to read thick books and that too about history. The more the number of pages, the more I repel from picking up that book. :). But Ivory Throne was an exception. I read somewhere that, its better to read the first 5 pages of a book before buying it. If we feel a connection during those 5 pages, then definitely we will finish the book else we will not. This logic helped me to go with Ivory Throne. On seeing the book, I thought I made a mistake. How big this book is :-O. I might end up using this as a pillow. But the first few pages itself, proved me wrong. Hip hip hurreyyyyyy, I started loving this book. I couldn't keep it down. Whenever I get a short break from my tiring schedules, I will start from the book marked page. It took almost a month to finish the book. 

This book revolves around the life of Senior Rani (Sethu Lekshmi Bai). Senior Ranis life was a roller coaster ride. The author Manu S Pillai took 6 years to finish this book. And that effort is clearly reflected in this book. Before dwelling into the life of Senior Rani, the Author clearly explains the history of Travancore, so that the reader will get a clear picture of the scenarios that existed. Ivory Throne can be used as a reference book for people interested in history. This book exposes us to lots of shocking incidents and family politics , which are hard to believe . But the bitter truth is we have to believe whats written, because all the incidents mentioned in this book are based on solid proofs (mostly in the form of hand written letters). My 5 stars for Ivory Throne too.