The Sanyasi Who Became a King-Sonia Chatterjee

Book: The Sanyasi Who Became a King
Author: Sonia Chatterjee
Publisher: Srishti Publications

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Have you heard about the mystery of the Bhawal Raja?

May 1909: Ramendra Narayan Roy, the second King of the Bhawal estate, dies under mysterious circumstances in Darjeeling. Twelve years later, an ash-covered sanyasi resembling the deceased King is seen. The King's family rejoices, but his wife, Bibhabati, refuses to accept the man as her husband. With support from the British government – which does not want the man to reclaim his lost power and wealth for selfish reasons – she demands proof! Was the Sanyasi a fraud? If he was the real King, then whose body was cremated in Darjeeling? What role did Bibhabati's brother play in this mysterious death? The Sanyasi Who Became a King is a true murder mystery set in pre-Independent India that highlights the intricacies of raw emotions, relationships, power, money and betrayal.

The book is a well-researched and detailed account of the story of the appearance of Ramendra as a Sanyasi, twelve years after his death and how a long legal tussle ensued to decide whether the Sanyasi was the King or not. The book is quite well researched and the descriptions of the appearance and the entire legal fight have been written in quite detail. What I liked in the book was that the with each page, the story keeps turning and you keep guessing whether the Sanyasi was the real King or not. The writing is gripping and you are engrossed in the story as you try and unravel this mystery through time. Another aspect that stands out in the book was the fact that the entire identification process is made and unmade multiple times, so much so that you start questioning your own thought process after some time. While there are quite a few points that standout in the book, what did not work for me was its length. While the research and writing is good, the length and the repetition of incidents sometimes made the story drag at a few places. The storytelling could have been a bit crisper if a few repeated scenes could have been edited out. The story closes on a good climax, and the entire tussle is brought to a wonderful close!

The book is recommendation to anyone looking to read a nice non-fiction. The book scores a 4.44/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore!