Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

Set in 17th century India, this is a beautiful love story about the building of the Taj Mahal. I haven't researched how accurate the story is. The ruler of India loses his wife in childbirth and asks Isa to build a mausoleum in her memory. While he is doing so, the daughter, Jahanara falls in love with him. She is already married to a horrible man. The book follows the secret affair between Jahanara and Isa and the birth of their daughter. There is also a political aspect to the book as well. The sons, Dara and Aurangzeb, are vying for the throne. Dara is the rightful heir. Aurangzeb is a horrible, greedy person and plots against his daughter and sister. It is a wonderful book about about love and politics and a woman who refuses to give in.

The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid

audiobook

This was a nice easy listen. I needed a good mystery. It took a little bit to get into, but i really enjoyed it. Jane Gresham is a English professor interested in Wordsworth. When a body turns up in her hometown centuries old, she believes that it is Fletcher Christian, a mutious soldier who Wordsworth wrote an unpublished manuscript. The identifying tattoo of Christian had been removed. It was thought that a member of the community had the manuscript. As Jane searched for the manuscript, those believed to have it started dying. I thought the book would be more about identifying Christian, but it centered around the search for the lost manuscript.