Daughter of Two Rivers-Arun Krishnan

Book: Daughter of Two Rivers
Author: Arun Krishnan
Publisher: Penguin India

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

Do you ever look back and think how the people in the older civilizations would have lived?

Undergoing a ravaging drought, the riverside settlement of Rohitaka is at odds, struggling to recover from their losses. When a request from Babylon to trade weapons arrives as a blessing in disguise, a trade delegation, headed by prince Arjuna, and the grizzled veteran, Shrutasena, sets off for the faraway kingdom. An encounter with Lilith, the fierce bodyguard to the Queen, and more importantly, a woman who is hell-bent on despising Arjuna, leaves him flustered. But there’s more to Lilith than meets the eye. The woman is a formidable soldier, but something about her reminds Arjuna of home, Bharatavarsha. But as fate would have it, Arjun and Lilith find themselves entrenched in a political ploy to overthrow Babylon’s King, Sin-Mubalit. Will they be able to stop the usurpers to the throne? And can they trust each other to have their backs as they do so, even as they’re uncovering new secrets on the go? Inspired by the twentieth century discovery of a Sumerian tablet off the coast of Mumbai, Daughter of Two Rivers is a homecoming story. And like all good homecoming stories, it’s a story of learning what home means―across countries, and across time.

Arun uses an interesting real-life discovery to weave a story that seems quite plausible. The writing is very visual and you are transported into Babylon as you start reading the story. What I liked was the fact that the plot is simple, and Arun has used the entire plot to show the importance of the discovery off the coast of Mumbai and only when you finish the book, that you go back and read the part of the discovery again to understand the core of the story. Another interesting aspect of the book is that Arun has not taken too many liberties while crafting fiction from fact and the plot does not seem outlandish. The idea of home is explored in a multifaceted manner and you keep revising the definition of home. Through the idea of family, culture, friends and the basic idea of survival, the author has presented this question many times as to what we call home, and what does it truly mean to lose a home. While the book is well-done, I did feel that the plot was a bit flat, considering the tone of the book. The first half of the book does set the tone and you expect some fireworks in the second half, you are left disappointed because things happen too fast, too easily. That part of the book I believe could have been improved a bit. The climax almost makes you pray for a happy ending, and as soon as you release your breathe, you realise that Arun has pulled one on you, and then the realization of something important, something that the author mentions in the beginning comes on to you. For me, that was the mark of a good storyteller.

Coming to the characters, Arun’s character development is quite imaginative, and I was impressed by the way he uses Arjuna and Lilith’s characters as a mirror of the pairing from the Mahabharata as a symbol. The way Lilith’s character develops in the book was fun to read. The two sides of her character, feisty and a fighter, and on the other hand, this soft-natured woman have been wonderfully balanced and written. Arjuna’s character was fun to read however I felt that a bit more of nuance in his character was required. He came across as a character who is a soldier, but then the other aspects of his character were very much hidden. Shrutasena, on the other hand, impressed me quite a bit, right from the first page to the last, especially his love and devotion.

Overall, this is a nicely written historical fiction that presents a nice interpretation of our ancestors might have lived. The book scores a 4.69/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or a bookstore near you.