Book review: Beneath a Marble Sky

I've had the book Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors on my shelf for a while.  I'm pretty sure that I got it in the mail from Barb a while ago because it's about building the Taj Mahal.  I had started reading it once before, but gave up a few chapters in.  This time I started it again and eventually got into it.  It tells the story of Princess Jahanara, whose father eventually ends up building the Taj Mahal in honor of her mother.  Jahanara grows up in the royal court and has to learn how to live in a society where women are given little power and little choice over what happens to them.

My favorite line from the story is, "...women are taught that there's no strength in our tears.  But why are tears powerless, if those tears lead to insight, or a sense of peace?"  Mostly because it shows the power that women are given in the story and because it speaks to the power of showing your emotion, which I usually end up doing.

While it wasn't my favorite story I've ever read, it was interesting because of the history behind it.  The other thing I found really interesting about it was that at the end of the book the author includes a letter to the reader.  While it's not completely unusual to address the reader, I like how honest and sincere he was.  It made me like the book that much more.