''Cuckold'' is a 1997 book by Indian author

Kiran Nagarkar Kiran Nagarkar (2 April 1942 – 5 September 2019) was an Indian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. A noted drama and film critic, he was one of the most significant writers of Independence of India, post-colonial India.#Sa, Sanga, p. 177 A ...

and his third novel. It is a historical novel set in the

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

kingdom of Mewar The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent Hindu kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a dominant state in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty, foll ...

, India during the 16th century that follows the life of Maharaj Kumar, a fictional character based upon the Mewar prince

Bhoj Raj Bhojraj Singh Sisodia (c. 1495–1526) was the eldest son of Rana Sanga, ruler of Mewar in western India. He is best known as the husband of the reputed bhakti poet-saint Meerabai. Biography Bhojraj Singh was born the eldest of the seven sons ...

whose wife

Mirabai Meera, better known as Mirabai, and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. She is mentioned in '' Bhaktama ...

thinks of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

as her husband and refuses to accept Bhoj Raj.

Synopsis

The book follows the life of Maharaj Kumar and his attempts to win the affections of his wife Mira while war ravages the land around them.

Critical reception

''Cuckold'' is considered to be one of Nagarkar's most well known novels, and in 2000 he won India's National Academy of Letters Award (

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

) for the work. The book has been praised for its "blending of traditional narrative against a historical backdrop presented with relentless detail". Makarand R. Paranjape considered it to be part of a canon of

Indian English Indian English (IndE, IE) or English (India) is a group of English dialects spoken in the Republic of India and among the Indian diaspora and native to India. English is used by the Government of India for communication, and is enshrined ...

novels. Gore Vidal called it, "a fascinating book, a sort of fantastic marriage between the

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

of ''

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Kings and their female consorts, as well as queens regnant, are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of a ...

'' and the

Lady Murasaki was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between abou ...

References

{{Sahitya Akademi Award for English HarperCollins books Indian English-language novels Novels set in India Novels set in the 16th century 1997 Indian novels Sahitya Akademi Award–winning works