Indu Sundaresan was born in India and grew up on Air Force bases all over the country.  Her father, a fighter pilot, was also a storyteller—managing to keep his audiences captive and rapt with his flair for drama and timing.  He got this from his father, Indu's grandfather, whose visits were always eagerly awaited.  Indu's love of stories comes from both of them, from hearing their stories based on imagination and rich Hindu mythology, and from her father's writings.

After an undergraduate degree in economics from India, Indu came to the U.S. for graduate school at the University of Delaware. But all too soon, the storytelling gene beckoned.

Indu has written two other novels before The Twentieth Wife, but they were practice runs (although she did not think so while writing them!)—they have taught her the art of crafting a novel. Apart from the novels, Indu has written a few short stories.

Indu has also worked with a local theatre group, Encore Playhouse, writing their programs, newsletters, funding letters and press releases. The most interesting task at Encore, however, was helping build sets for their various productions—a gothic N.Y. City apartment (gargoyles et al) for I Hate Hamlet, a more contemporary one for the female version of the Odd Couple. There was a time when Indu was well versed in the language of power tools, balancing this with a head full of 17^th century very-un-technologically-advanced India.

Indu was awarded the Washington State Book Award in 2003 for The Twentieth Wife.

The sequel to The Twentieth Wife titled The Feast of Roses, which continues Mehrunnisa's story as Empress Nur Jahan until the time of her death, was published in 2003.  Indu's third book, The Splendor of Silence, will be in bookstores in September 2006.

© Indu Sundaresan 2002-2008
Contact Indu: indu (at) indusundaresan (dot) com

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