Bride of the City Volume 1

In the ancient republic of Vaishali, a childless couple discover an abandoned infant girl in a mango orchard. They name her Ambapali, one who sprouted from a mango. When she turns eighteen, Ambapali is forced to become a courtesan - the Bride of the City - under Vaishali's laws which dictate that a woman as beautiful as her cannot be only one man's wife. Ambapali bows before the iron law of her society, but does not allow herself to be crushed. She sets terms that make her residence, the Palace of Seven Worlds, a centre of power. While the richest and the most powerful men grovel before her, Ambapali bides her time even as she burns with revenge...

Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu was published in Hindi in 1948-49. With its vast canvas of characters including the Buddha and Mahavir, its moods, and its depictions of lust, love, statecraft, sorcery, war, spiritualism, and above all, of the human condition, this is an unrivalled epic.