THE AGE OF KALI–which you can order from RespondeoBooks.com or from Amazon sites worldwide, in paperback or ebook–is a radical reimagining of a great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. It takes the original story and looks at it from the point of view of the marginalized characters: women, indigenous people, LGBTQ folks, those with disabilities, and so on.

This approach has already raised a few hackles among Hindu fundamentalists/nationalists, who regard the epic as a sacred text and don’t like anyone messing around with it. I’ve received one scathing (and inadvertently hilarious) review that says, among many other things, “Its lyrical, quiet wit is akin to a turd on a golden plate.” Well … at least he didn’t say it was cold diarrhea on a paper plate. 😉

Seriously, though, THE AGE OF KALI is not the least bit “Hinduphobic” (as the anonymous reviewer claims). It is, rather, my love letter to the Mahabharata, which I regard as one of the greatest works of literature and most engrossing tales of all time. All my major characters and major plot points come directly from the original; I have simply looked at them through a very different lens.

As one perceptive young reader said: “It’s like Wicked, only for an Indian legend.” Wide Sargasso Sea, in which Jean Rhys reimagines Jane Eyre from the perspective of the “mad wife,” was one of my inspirations.

You don’t have to know anything about the original source in order to enjoy the book. The story, as I tell it, stands alone.

I hope you’ll check it out! (Translation: buy it.) For a summary and a couple of (nice) reviews, see the “Jocelyn’s Books” page.

Thanks!

Jocelyn xo