This is a beautiful retelling of the epic love story of Ram and Sita, and all their adventures, together and separately, through which they fulfill the destiny they were meant to deliver in this world through the laws of karma. Throughout South Asia, Ram is a name for self-righteousness, justice, where Sita, the beautiful princess is a name that all children know for her strength to sacrifice.

This story pans out the focus from Ram, and spotlights Sita - told in her point of view, drawing out her feelings, thoughts, judgments, decisions, qualities, flaws, as a woman, a wife, a sister and a mother. It also captures several of the forgotten women from the Ramayan mythology, whose courage, strength, sacrifices, capacity to endure for the love of their families is usually left in the background.

The writing is lovely and the story is beautiful. I really enjoyed the fresh characterization of these classic mythological characters.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.

It is so, so, so hard for me to write this, especially cause I loved Palace of Illusions so much, but this was just not for me. I'd been excited about this book since the moment it was announced, hoping to see a better story for Sita, to see the entire Ramayan from her perspective, to love her as I'd come to love Draupadi after Palace of Illusions, but this missed the mark so badly.

I think a lot of it stems from the fact that I dislike the entire premise of Ramayan when it comes to how Sita was treated, and I wanted to read a story where my frustrations about it were mirrored in the character as well, but that didn't happen the way I wanted to. While I acknowledge that the story is well written, I just couldn't bring myself to like it.

Divakaruni is a gifted author and she certainly did her best to portray Sita in a more feminist way but it at it's core, I just couldn't love this story the way I wanted to.

I enjoyed this book! I adored Divakaruni's initial book of this kind, Palace of Illusions, but this one tell's Sita's story and is much darker, thematically. I was familiar with most of the sequence of events - this book is a retelling of the Ramayana from Sita's perspective - though I hadn't previously grasped the enormity of what happened to Sita at the end of her time on Lanka and following that on her return to Ayodhya.

I do think that some of Sita's relationships to people other than Ram could have been expanded - her relationship to her parents and in particular to her father Janak, to Lakshman with whom she spent 14 years but seems in this novel to have had just a handful of conversations, and to the people of Ayodhya. The repeating motif in the book is love, and while romantic love is what make's Sita's story at once tragic and powerful, her divinity rests on the love she has for everyone; every kind of love.

But Sita is strong in this Sitayan, a pillar of fortitude who suffers but maintains, who is compassionate but firm; she is bold, protective of her family and of the people of Ayodhya, clever, and nurturing. But she errs too, blaming herself for preventing Ram and Lakshman from harming Supanakha.

Thank you Harper 360 for the opportunity!

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is back again with another classical retelling, And again, she has created a masterpiece. Lush beautiful landscapes, flawed gods, and tales that seem so unbelievably relatable, Banerjee Divakaruni has once again made a perfect tale of the honest meaning of life as a woman and the trials and tribulations of life as a figure of myth.

By her own admission, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was challenged in writing a more modern story of Sita and Ram from the original Ramayana. However, she has accomplished all that she challenged herself to do by writing this truly moving and engaging rendition of the love story of Sita and Ram. For any reader interested in the two Sanskrit epics of Hinduism, this beautifully told tale is presented to modern readers with everything a story must have: virtue, love, war, evil, family allegiance, and more. In addition to the plot, Divakaruni skillfully and lovingly weaves descriptions of the forest and all that lives there with the theme of exile first for Ram and Sita and then later only for Sita and her twin sons. The story moves with grace and style in a way that would be overwhelming to most writers; Divakaruni has created a perfect cultural depiction of the story and all that relates to it. It could be mind-boggling, but Divakaruni has carefully taken a vast tale that has renditions all over Asia and which is an important piece of Hinduism and other religions and made it steadfast and readable. I was completely taken in by this story, but most of all, I was taken in by Divakaruni"s telling of it.

I have mixed feelings about The Forest of Enchantments, but I also recognize that much of my critique comes from my positionality as a western reader.

I’m a sucker for retellings of classic fairytales and folklore, especially from feminist perspectives.
I enjoyed the writing, the storytelling, the folkloric elements--especially since I was not very familiar with the Ramayana before reading this rendition. Even so, I just couldn’t tamp down my frustrations reading this book. Divakaruni’s brand of feminism just doesn’t align with my own. And really, that shouldn't be a surprise. We come from different cultures and different generations.

Divakaruni presents a very self-sacrificing version of womanhood. The women in her tale’s strengths come from the power they wield gently and covertly behind the scenes, from their emotional intelligence, and from their labor, especially as caregivers. Time and time again Ram’s poor decisions or treatment of Siti goes unquestioned, and is often even explicitly excused. This is SORT OF challenged at the end when Siti is finally fed up with Ram, but also not really because she is still sacrificial, merely in a way that refuses to suffer any more indignities at HIS hands.

That said, any and all retellings of old stories and literature that center women are meaningful. Even if I personally wanted a little more disruption.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins India for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another wonderful story by Divakaruni that captures the essence of Indian culture and mythology. The writing has a magical and transportive quality I love.

Thank you to the publisher and author for an ARC.

A friend introduced me to Divakaruni in college, and it was poetry much love at first read. I've read most of her work and lived it, so I was super excited about her take on Sita and the Ramayana.

And it starts off very well, with Sita narrating her early life with her adoptive family. And then she marries Ram, a powerful, dutiful prince from another kingdom. And, well, her life does not go according to plan.

I like Sita, but she doesn't have the personality of Divakaruni's other female heroes. Her devotion is frustrating. The writing is good, but not quite as magical and gorgeous as Palace of Illusions.

Still, Divakaruni's an important author to me, and I did enjoy this book and will continue to read her work.

Thank you so much for the chance to read this book! Growing up in North America, I have often found myself incredibly interested in learning more about other cultures, especially their religions and the gods/goddesses within each culture.

This fantastic retelling has me convinced to read the original source material, and has me hungry for more. A story of womanhood and endurance, this is a memorable tale sure to inspire more readers to experience this story for themselves!

I loved this book. I love reading books about India and I love that there are so many more of them out there now. This is a retelling of Ramayan and having watched it when I was younger brought about nostalgia. I liked that this was told from Sita's perspective whereas all stories are usually told from Ram's perspective.

cient Indian/Sanskrit epic, in this case the Ramayana, by retelling the story and adjusting it to focus on the perspective of a major female character, instead of the traditional male protagonist. I really enjoyed that first book, The Palace of Illusions (my review here), which retold the story of the Mahābhārata from the perspective of Draupadi/Panchaali, showing her tragic tale and how so much of it was caused by her own choices, loyalties, and loves, all in a world which seeks to limit her because of her gender (remnisicient of Madeline Miller's Circe did the Odyssey from Greek myth). I had some minor foreknowledge of the Mahābhārata going into that book (from other adaptations), but honestly had basically no such foreknowledge of the Ramayana, so I was really curious and excited to see how Divakaruni would adapt this other epic that I did not know.

And The Forest of Enchantments is a really strong and interesting but very different book than The Palace of Illusions, even as the concepts are similar. Centering on Sita, it tells a tale not just about her but about the other neglected women in the epic who are forced to constantly endure as the men around them make decisions out of pride and "duty" with little regard for the impact on the women they love. It's a story about love - familial and romance - and how such love is often a tie that binds, even as the loved ones are betrayed by their significant others. And without changing the overall story (at least based upon my research afterwards) it ends on an epic moment in which is really well earned, and will make the reader go "FINALLY!"

--------------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------------
The sage Valmiti comes to Sita, as she lives in the forest exiled with her two sons, with the epic story of her husband Ram, the story known as the Ramayana. And yet, Sita tells him, while his story is very good, it is missing her story, and the stories of the other women along the way - the story of their despair, their darkness, their exhilaration, their love and their enduring. And so the sage tells her to write it down herself.

And so Sita writes - of how she grew up with a loving family who respected her wishes, of her falling in love with Ram and her act to ensure her sister could join her new family, of her attempts to placate her father-in-law's three wives, of her time in the forest, and the fateful events that happened after that: all her moments of love and joy.....and misery and frustration, sometimes caused by her own mistake, more often caused by the foolish prideful acts of those around her.

But the story Sita tells is not just about herself - it is also the story of Kaikeyi, a queen who sacrificed everything for her son, only to be cast away; the story of Ahalya, the innocent woman betrayed by her husband's jealousy; of her sister Urmila, often forgotten and left behind; and even Surpanakha, rakshasi enchantress who wanted only the wrong man. It is the story of how they are not all just cautionary tales, but are themselves beings of courage, who deserved far more than the world treated them......
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The Forest of Enchantment is told through the eyes of Sita, from girlhood to her end, as she finds herself tied to Ram and so many others by love. Ram is the traditional hero of the story, the Ramayana - he's the son of a powerful king with a strong sense of duty and honor who never breaks his vows, who does honors those vows even when that results in clearly negative outcomes. He's the hero who rescues Sita and wages war for a year to save her, and who is essentially unbeatable at war.

And yet, like pretty much every man in this story, Ram is blind to the impacts of his acts on those around him, obsessed with his pride and reputation and blind to that of others, and repeatedly ignorant of the lives and opinions of those who aren't the manly noble warriors - or just men - like himself. And from Sita's point of view, we see all this - how Ram doesn't understand why Sita would come with him to the forest, why she would want a child, the sacrifice she made to stay committed to him after a year in captivity, the ways other women might want him and be driven to desperate acts by their circumstances and his prideful refusal....Ram is in some ways driven by his father's mistakes of taking so many wives (3) and concubines that tear him apart, but that does not excuse how he repeatedly refuses to listen to the women around him when they tell him their concerns. And so he demands the impossible out of Sita not once but twice, hears her story of a woman driven out of her home by an abusive husband and thinks only of his own reputation, and never thinks about how his own actions embolden the men of his kingdom, and the men around him, to never change themselves.

For it's not just Ram acting this way - it's his brother Lakshman always following his brother's orders, even as that hurts Sita's sister, his wife; it's a guru turning his wife to stone out of mistaken jealousy and then mistaking her vow of silence as forgiveness; it's a prince seeing his mother sacrifice everything to crown him and not just rejecting the crown - which was right to do -but refusing to acknowledge that she did it all for him and turning his back on her; and it's even Ram and Lakshman mocking Surpanakha for her foolish choice of desire, and then harming her when they had no need to, making her deformed for life just because of a bad choice.

And in all this - because this isn't the story of the men, it's the story of the women - Sita and the others have to endure, tied to their loved ones by their emotions, despite all the wrongs they perform on them. And this the book argues takes its own form of courage - to resist the abuse and entreaties of a captor for a year while there's no hope of rescue; to walk into flames to pacify the stupid fears of her husband that she might be thought to have betrayed him; to go into the forest with her husband for 14 years rather than to stay in comfort, and more. And, unlike many of the traditional forms of the story (as explained in the author foreword), this courage is to brave things that are wrong, that should not be required of her. And so when the story reaches its conclusion, it does so not with Sita enduring further, not with her taking the happiness that could be offered to her, but rejecting it in the name of confronting all these wrongs and speaking out.

It's part of a conclusion mandated by the epic, because Divakaruni does not change the overall events of the Ramayana (even as she chooses some interpretations over others), but spun in a new different way to highlight its central theme - the courage of women, bound by love and forgiveness, who should not have to deal with all this shit.

So yeah, well well worth your time, even if you don't know the story coming in.

A fabulous opportunity to read what is essentially a reworking of one of the most famous love stories. Diavkaruni has given voice to Sita, a woman who was not as prominent in the original. Don't worry if you haven't read that - or if,. like me, you are only vaguely familiar with it- this stands on its own and is a terrific read. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I very much enjoyed this.

A solid retelling of the Ramayana, but from a point of view that’s not normally considered - Sita’s. It does, to some degree, fall into the trap of “just writing down what happened like you’re reading a Wikipedia article, but with feminine pronoun”, but we actually get some insight into what was going on in the parts of the story that get glossed over (Sita’s captivity, raising the boys, etc). A cut above the rest because it’s a part of folklore that doesn’t typically get focused on in American literature, and it’s not just reciting a Wikipedia article about the myth. Take a look if you get a chance.

What a gorgeous and lush retelling of the story of Sita and Ram! As always, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni brings to life the voice and soul of a woman who features largely in Hindu mythology but whose inner life is rarely explored. Sita in this story is strong, smart and empathic in the way of true strength! She is a healer of great talent, beloved daughter, dutiful and loving wife, and steadfast counselor. The writing is lyrical and the meditations on the nature of love and its impact on our actions (wise or not) were one of the highlights.
Much like Palace of Illusions, there is a strong sense of setting. The world of mortals and gods is never too far apart and this book brings them together in a way that feels entirely natural.
I found the relationship between Sita and Ram to be well developed in the sense that we see her absolute commitment to him and his strong attachment to what he sees as duty above all else. In the times where Sita truly needs him to believe in her and he is found lacking, Ram's motivations are obvious (even when I found myself unable to sympathize with him). The secondary characters like Raavan and Mandodari are also established in a way that adds depth to our understanding of their actions. The conclusion was perfect and did full justice to Sita's character development!

For someone who has read Ramayan, I was really excited to read Divakaruni's "The Forest of Enchantments". I liked the author's writing style and also how she gave her version of the story featuring Sita. Brilliantly executed.

This is a timeless tale of a love story from Indian mythology. The imagery and world building was superb. The narrative was well paced and beautifully written.

I have waited too too long to read this book. When the release date was first announced, I was full of joy only to realize it wasn’t coming yet in the US. I have waited a long while to get to this and I am so excited for it.

The Palace of Illusions is one of my all time favorites and it was such a joy to read the amazing Mahabharata through Draupadi’s eyes. So, I was quite excited to see what the author would do with Sita’s story. And she definitely doesn’t disappoint. The writing is beautiful and lyrical and evokes that magical feeling of being a part of something bigger than us. We see both Ram and Sita, not just as incarnations of God on earth, but as human as everyone else, with flaws and prejudices and frailties. But I can’t deny that I struggled with the book at certain parts. The pacing is pretty inconsistent, with some parts being very deep and contemplative, while others just rushing through years of storyline. The languid pace at times almost made it feel boring and I wasn’t prepared for that. But I will also not deny that I’m biased and my general disinterest in the Ramayana may have affected my opinion of this story as well. However, it was actually refreshing to not read about the whole war and instead get a closer look at the consequences and devastation, especially how the citizens of Lanka were affected. I think I also expected to see a little more of Sita’s story after her exile and her relationship with her sons - which was quite heartwarming and wonderful to read about but I felt was too short and deserved more page time. But whatever my gripes and complaints, the absolutely brilliant ending makes up for a lot of it.

Getting a chance to deep dive into Sita’s thought process was a fascinating experience. We get to know her as more than Ram’s wife and see a bit more of her as a sister to Urmila and the daughter-in-law of Kaushalya - which also gives us an opportunity to know more about these women from the epic. Urmila is particularly someone we hardly ever read anything about, so it was awesome to get to know about her feelings for Lakshman and her suffering during the fourteen years of exile. The other two women whom we don’t even consider very important usually are given time here - Surpanakha and Mandodari. I particularly liked how Sita always questions the bodily harm that was meted out to Surpanakha and if it really was a justifiable response. Mandodari is also shown as a wise and intelligent queen but someone who can’t always check her husband’s worst impulses.

The men in the book don’t get as much page time as the canon versions and I definitely didn’t have a problem with that. But it also gives us an opportunity to understand them more through the perspective of Sita, especially Ram. She loves him a lot and it’s evident, but she also never glosses over some of his flaws. She realizes that his need for perfection is not always right, and that some of his prejudices are uncalled for - but she also never truly confronts him about it all because she doesn’t want to make him unhappy. We as readers too understand that he is a good person but someone who is very much set in his ways, and while he does want to be perfect and establish a model kingdom, he loses sight of everything that’s important in his personal life for the sake of that perfection. While we also get to see Raavan as more than just an evil Asura King, I didn’t really feel much invested in his storyline.

But ultimately, this book is about Sita. The story goes into detail about her life before marriage and I thought the author did a great job showing us her relationship with her mother and sister, as well as an insight into her love for all things nature. I particularly enjoyed that the author made Sita a healer, who especially knows a lot about plants and herbs - which is canon divergent but still thematically relevant because we do consider her to be the daughter of the earth. We see her evolve as a wife, as a daughter in law, and later adapt to the life of a forest dweller - never complaining about her change in stature. She is content in her love for Ram and it really shows in every action and word of hers. But her plight after her abduction by Raavan and later her exile from Ayodhya are some of the most painful parts of the story, but I also marveled at her strength that kept her going. She really is the epitome of endurance and that came across very well.

There are many many themes that form the crux of this book and I’m not sure if I even absorbed them all. There is a lot of commentary (but mostly internal) about the importance of giving equal voice to both men and women, how striving for perfection in everything is not ideal nor feasible, nature and all its inhabitants are the responsibility of the leader and conservation is equally necessary as much as the welfare of the people, and most importantly - as much as it’s needed that a leader model righteous behavior for his subjects to follow, duty and responsibility towards the subjects is not mutually exclusive from the duty towards loved ones. But ultimately, the major theme of this book is love. The one thing that Sita does throughout the book is contemplate the meaning of love - and she discovers every version of it by observing the actions of those around her and also in the way she behaves towards others. From the love that consumes and leads to destruction like that of Dasharath and Kaikeyi, to the unconditional love of Urmila or Mandodari towards their husbands, we get to see and understand it in all its forms. But the one major realization that Sita arrives at which totally hit me with how relevant it is to our lives was that even if we love someone with all our heart, we can’t change their inherent nature or innate prejudices, we can only change ourselves and adapt to live peacefully with them. This is the reality for so many women even now and left me wondering what has truly changed for women in the millennia.

In the end, all I can say is that this book has its flaws just like the epic, but it’s still a wonderful and insightful read and I loved getting to know the story through a unique lens. If you like reading Indian mythological retellings or have loved reading The Palace of Illusions before, then this book is perfect for you. If you particularly have a soft spot for the Ramayana, I think you will really appreciate the perspective provided in this book. And that amazing ending - I just wish everyone gets a chance to really experience that.