Seeking the Taj

In Seeking The Taj, Elaine Williams evokes a spirited young woman's immersion into the mysterious society of deposed Indian royals where crumbling palaces hold dark secrets and treachery abounds. Set in 1969, when hippies, soul seekers and The Beatles swarmed into India, Garnet, a young poet with a painful past, is traveling in India to write about the empress who inspired the Taj Mahal. Burdened on the trip by the brilliant, half-mad Niles, at the Taj Mahal she encounters Ravi Singh, an exuberant, charismatic prince descended from a dynasty of eccentric royals. Ravi pursues her and although she is deeply drawn to the prince, the near tragic assault she endured as an adolescent left her fearful of romantic entanglements. But in Agra she is befriended by Ravi's royal auntie, a wise and worldly woman who seized her freedom in a repressive society, and has much to teach Garnet. "Seeking the Taj is a beautifully written story, very sensual with a dreamlike feel to it. A haunting story, with beautiful imagery, the rich echoes of history and the fairy tale ending." (INSET): ALSO BY ELAINE WILLIAMS, author, prize-winning poet and travel journalist; MAHARANI, Memoirs of a Rebellious Princess. "An unusual biography, a fantastic and anachronistic kind of life. It can hardly fail to hold your interest." - The New Yorker "We watch a spoiled and sheltered little Indian princess grow into a suffering woman of character. A fascinating book." - The Christian Advocate