DNF - I tried to keep reading, to bring myself to come back to this story but, I couldn't so I'm stopping here. There will be many readers who adore this story but, this just wasn't my jam.

Happy to include this title in ‘Lives Lived,’ my recent round-up for Zoomer magazine’s Books section highlighting new and notable historical novels (see mini-review at link)

Read if you like: ancient history, Circe
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A beautiful reimagining of the story of the Buddha, but through the eyes of his wife, Yasodhara. The story looks at the couple's early relationship and the impact on Yasodhara when her husband leaves her to become the Enlightened One. She struggles to raise their son while living with his family, in a world where not having a husband but not being a widow gives her no status at all.
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I loved the setting of ancient India and to read about what life would have been like for different people. We got to read about the warring groups of people, as well as the structure of society. I liked the creativity used by the author to reimagine the historical characters' lives, and while I felt like some of the parts of the plot were a bit long, I enjoyed the story.
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CW: pregnancy, childbirth, abandonment, war, violence, death of a parent, sexism, misogyny.

This was definitely an example of right book, wrong time. Writing is definitely what draws me to Shyam Selvadurai's books and Mansions of the Moon truly did not disappoint. He crafts just beautiful sentences with rich descriptions. When it came to characters there are a lot of them and I did have trouble trying to prioritize who would continue to be important throughout the story.

If you enjoy historical fiction and atmospheric stories that unfold at a slower pace I think you will really enjoy Mansions of the Moon.

Shyam Selvadurai creates a compassionate portrait of a woman and a time about which not that much is known, and delivers a lovely, nuanced story of the birth of a religion, the disintegration of a marriage, and how Yashodha copes with trial after trial created by her husband, Siddharta.

I loathed the Herman Hesse book “Siddharta” we were required to read and analyze in high school. Thank goodness for this book, where Selvadurai illustrates a period in India’s ancient history, 6 B.C.E, where women had a little more freedom than they’ve had later in India’s history. Yashodha marries her quiet, thoughtful cousin, whose very thoughtfulness, and the fact that his mother died giving birth to him, makes him a source of pain and derision for his father, raja of Kosala.

Siddharta and Yashodha then are sent North by the raja so Siddharta can administer and rule a northern town. He does a more than capable job, ruling evenhandedly and with respect for the people, and also becomes entranced by an travelling ascetic’s teachings, and spends years ruminating on the radically different ideas from his own religious education. When later they return to Kosala and Yashodha gives birth to their son, Siddharta decides to leave, renouncing his power and worldly goods, so he can wander, and teach others about his philosophy.

Yashodha, already under pressure because of her crumbling marriage, falls apart. When years later, Siddharta comes back into her life, she’s thrown back into confusion, anger, grief, and frustration. She must figure out how to deal with his refusal to rejoin his family or be a father, while also dealing with the upheaval of his presence, as well as others in her life succumbing to the attraction of his teachings.

Yashoda’s feelings, from her sixteen-year old self, to her years as a mother, are wonderfully conveyed by Selvadurai, as well as her legitimate anger with her errant husband. Very few of those surrounding her really confront Siddharta about his desertion and later role of religious leader, especially after he returns with a following. His philosophy is much more gentle than the one people generally subscribe to, and it’s clear that Buddhism has proven itself over centuries, despite its revolutionary beginning.

It’s still hard for me to rationalize Siddharta’s abandonment of his family, even with Selvadurai’s sensitive portrayal of both Yashodha and Siddharta, and I’m not surprised by how misogyny permeated Buddhism’s inclusion of women early on. But I loved Yashoda’s growth as a person, and her sense of peace with her life by the end of this enjoyable book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.