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Varsha Seshan

The Train to Tanjore

October 11, 2022 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

It’s 1942 in Tanjore, and Thambi wants to know more about the Quit India movement. Encouraged by his father, he visits the library regularly to scour the newspapers. But there’s precious little in the papers about anything except the war raging in Europe. Thambi wants to know about Gandhiji and the other freedom fighters! Not […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Devika Rangachari, historical fiction, Middle Grade, reading, review, Songs of Freedom, The Train to Tanjore

Queen of Fire

May 27, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

When I started reading Queen of Fire, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it. I expected to read something new and captivating, even though I knew that the protagonist was the rani of Jhansi. But all the opening scenes were familiar to me. We’ve studied the history of the independence movement in India […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Devika Rangachari, historical fiction, Queen of Fire, reading, review, Young Adult

Queen of Earth

October 18, 2020 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

In the author’s note at the end of Queen of Earth, author Devika Rangachari talks of Queen Prithvimahadevi’s story having been ignored by gendered historiography. That gave me pause. I’ve barely thought about that. I’ve barely thought about all the women who, most certainly, made significant changes to the course of history, but have been […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Devika Rangachari, Queen of Earth, reading, review, Young Adult

Queen of Ice

September 23, 2017 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Didda knew that a grand destiny awaited her. She sometimes wondered whether her mother had bribed the astrologer to predict greatness and fortune so that Didda, who was not just a girl, but also lame, would not be killed at birth. But the prediction was made, and Didda was determined to fulfil her destiny. Queen […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Devika Rangachari, queen of ice, reading, review