Vaishnavi Patel’s KAIKEYI is the latest in a new wave of retellings of the stories of maligned women in mythology.

In the vein of Jennifer Saint’s ARIADNE, Madeline Miller’s CIRCE, and Genevieve Gornichec’s THE WITCH’S HEART, this book delivers a stellar reinvention of Queen Kaikeyi, the wicked stepmother of Rama in the Indian epic the Ramayana.

"Patel creates an engaging backstory for her villainess turned heroine."

Patel creates an engaging backstory for her villainess turned heroine. Raised by a distant father after her mother is exiled, Kaikeyi does her best to make herself, as a woman without much of a voice, heard in her kingdom. In doing so, she enters the Binding Plane, a magical parallel realm where she can influence others’ emotions and actions. She carves out a role for herself in a man’s world and works hard to get as much influence as she can when she is married off against her will, which might come back to haunt her.

Rather than plotting her stepson’s demise, Kaikeyi adores him and is just trying to do the best for Ayodhya --- and Rama isn’t that. By painting a much-revered demigod as a flawed individual, Patel creates a world of shadows where previously the characters were much more engaged in a light vs. dark dichotomy.

Sometimes Kaikeyi’s protofeminism seems overly preachy and a bit anachronistic. But making her an actor in a world where she was expected to be passive is a brilliant stroke by Patel, who is a great new voice.