4.36 avg rating — 3,614,618 ratings

"haunting and classic, rich writing
"

4.03 avg rating — 15,577 ratings

"said, "Here, people at the office are reading this." My first glimpse I thought torrid romance, eh? I opened the book and fell in love with the story. First of all the Taj has great signifigance for me in that it was built for the love of a woman, and there is now in the outskirts of New Dehli, The Baha'i House of Worship, and the architect took quite seriously this concept. He wanted to build something for the Indians, an organic structure for the love of humankind. The Indian House of Worship is shaped like a lotus blossom, and basically was built with only one crane, and many workers. You can Google Baha'i House of Worship and look for Indian temple.

That said, this novel is historically accurate - the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, buildt the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and not longer after its completion, there was a power struggle among his sons. The author's note indicates that scholars (with a capital S) disagree on numerous matters ... "inclding the construction methods of the Taj, the identity of the principal architect, and even how long the mausoleum took to build." But the larger story is historically accurate, as I understood it, and the author dramatized epic events, taking liberties with events, customs and characters' actions. Thus, it is fiction.

Fiction can say much more often times than nonfiction. I found the story gripping, the characters finely drawn and the story compelling. Iwas amazed the author portrayed this particular woman so well. I highly recommend this book - it is a good read"

4.39 avg rating — 2,981,605 ratings

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 164,732 ratings

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 401,004 ratings

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4.07 avg rating — 106,301 ratings