03 August 2022

#BookLove Maitreya Jatak by Bani Basu

About The Book

The book describes a complex story of passion, intellect, love, religion, and politics in the ancient Indian kingdom of Magadha 600 BCE – 413 BCE during the time of King Bimbisara.

The storyline opens with a prince with immense power and intellect who was about to change mankind with the help of Bimbisara. His name is Gautama Buddha.

The book depicts a remarkable time of history in the Indian subcontinent. The culture, wealth, power, and administration of Magadha were probably among the best in the world.

The Indian Magadha confederacy is one of the world’s oldest democracies. The King was powerful but the council was even more! And begins a historical power struggle.

My Thoughts

This book is my love affair with literature and history (I never liked history and the book made me fall in love with the time period when the book was written).

God, I can’t express my love for this, book, its narration, its pace, its language, its character development, and everything.

This book is the perfect example of the hidden gems written in regional language. This book is a painting.

If this book was in English – it could have easily won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and many more.

Book Links

Amazon India 

About the Author

Bani Basu (born 11 March 193 is a prolific Bengali Indian author, essayist, critic, poet, translator, and professor.

She received her formal education from the well-known Lady Brabourne College, Scottish Church College and at the University of Calcutta where she received M.A. in English.

She was awarded the Tarashankar Award for Antarghāt (Treason), and the Ananda Purashkar for Maitreya Jātak. She is also the recipient of the Sushila Devi Birla Award and the Sahitya Setu Puraskar. In 2010 she was awarded Sahitya Academy for her contributions to Bengali literature.

Author on the Web

Wikipedia