In een wereld van onvoorstelbare rijkdom en macht, moordzuchtige familievetes en wrede tirannie, vertelt prinses Jahanara het bijzondere verhaal van de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de Taj Mahal. De jonge prinses Jahanara is voorbestemd voor een harteloos gearrangeerd huwelijk, maar weet aan haar lot te ontsnappen door zich op te werpen als vertegenwoordiger van het hof in de gesprekken met Isa, de architect van de Taj Mahal. Al snel moet ze laveren tussen de wensen van haar overleden moeder, de rigide rolpatronen opgelegd aan vrouwen, en een verboden liefde. Met uitzonderlijke moed durft Jahanara tijdens de bouw tegen de onverdraagzaamheid en blindheid van het hof in te gaan. Ze zet alles op alles om het koninkrijk te behoeden voor een burgeroorlog. Als prinses, en als moeder, zus en dochter zal Jahanara haar hart moeten volgen. Pas dan zal ze de ware aard van haar koninklijke erfenis ontdekken.  

From Publishers Weekly

Shors' sophomore effort (following Beneath a Marble Sky), set on an island in the South Pacific during three weeks in 1942, features achingly lyrical prose, even in depicting the horrors of war. After a U.S. hospital ship is torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese, a handful of survivors struggle for survival on a remote island. They include the captain and an officer; a Japanese prisoner, Akira, and two ship's nurses he saved (one of them the captain's wife); and the ship's engineer, who saves a Fijian stowaway, Ratu. Akira, a college professor pressed into service, is haunted by what he saw, did, and didn't do at Nanking. Jake, the engineer, is a black farmer who sees in Ratu the son he never had. Ratu adds a colorful combination of winsome bravado, humor and childish fear; each main character is similarly well-rounded, excepting the single-minded traitor among them, unsuspected by his fellow castaways. Shors pays satisfying attention to class and race dynamics, as well as the tension between wartime enemies. The survivors' dignity, quiet strength and fellowship make this a magical read.
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From Booklist

It’s the fall of 1942, and the U.S. hospital ship Benevolence is cruising the waters of the South Pacific when it is torpedoed by the Japanese. Only nine people survive, and they eventually wash up on an island: the captain Joshua, and his wife, Isabelle, a nurse; Isabelle’s sister Annie and a woman named Scarlet, both nurses; Ratu, a teenage Fijian stowaway; Jake, a black engineer; Nathan and Roger, two officers; and Akira, a wounded Japanese soldier. The group knows it’s only a matter of time before the Japanese war machine reaches their shores, so they valiantly prepare for battle. As they do so, each man and woman struggles with his or her own personal demons. Add to that Annie’s fascination with Akira, and the fact that one survivor is secretly radioing the Japanese from deep in the jungle. Following his well-received debut, Beneath a Marble Sky (2004), Shors’ second novel is an astounding work. Poetic and cinematic as it illuminates the dark corners of human behavior, it is destined to be this decade’s The English Patient (1992). --Hilary Hatton

Review

"Stunning and profoundly moving." - National Geographic Traveler magazine, which named Cross Currents as its "Book of the Month"

"The back cover of Cross Currents includes blurbs from bestselling authors Wally Lamb and Amy Tan. I believe Lamb and Tan recognize what so many others see in Shors: a talented author who makes distant lands and events feel close to home and personal." - The Colorado Springs Gazette

"Cross Currents is an emotional and powerful novel, and one I would recommend in an instant!" - PeekingBetweenThePages.com

"Shors' advocacy for international causes clearly establishes his place as one of the most humanitarian voices in fiction today." - FreshFiction.com

"Shors is an immense talent." - Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club

"Gripping, moving, and ravishingly written, Shors' latest is a stunning story of family, connection, and the astonishing power of nature."
-Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

"A maelstrom of riveting action. I loved this book."
-Karl Marlantes, New York Times bestselling author of Matterhorn

"A supremely readable tale."
-Joan Silber, bestselling author of The Size of the World

About the Author

John Shors traveled extensively throughout Asia after graduating from Colorado College. His novels have been translated into 25 languages.