Surpanakha, Ravan’s famous sister. Ugly and untamed, brutal and brazen—this is often how she is commonly perceived. One whose nose was sliced off by an angry Lakshman and the one who started a war. But was she really just a perpetrator of war? Or was she a victim? Was she ‘Lanka’s princess’? Or was she the reason behind its destruction?

Surpanakha, which means the woman ‘as hard as nails’, was born as Meenakshi—the one with beautiful, fish-shaped eyes. She is often the most misunderstood character in the Ramayana. Growing up in the shadows of her brothers, who were destined to win wars, fame and prestige, she, instead, charted out a path filled with misery and revenge.

Accused of manipulating events between Ram and Ravan, which culminated into a bloody war and annihilation of her family, Kavita Kané’s Lanka’s Princess makes us see the familiar events unfold from the eyes of a woman more hated than hateful…

Kavita Kané is a former journalist and the bestselling author of five books. She is considered a revolutionary force in Indian writing because she has brought in feminism where it is most needed—mythology. Her five novels are all based on women in Indian mythology: Karna’s Wife (2013); Sita’s Sister (2014), on Ramayana’s most neglected character, Urmila; Menaka’s Choice (2015), on the apsara, Menaka; Lanka’s Princess (2016), on the female antagonist in the Ramayana, Surpanakha; and The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty (2017) on Satyavati, the grand matriarch in the Mahabharata.

After a career of over two decades in Magna and DNA, Kavita quit her job as assistant editor of Times of India to devote herself to writing novels full-time. With a post-graduate degree in English literature as well as in journalism and mass communication, the only skill she has, she confesses, is writing.

Passionate about theatre, cinema and art, she is also a columnist, a screenplay writer and a motivational speaker, having given several talks all across the country in educational and research institutes, corporate and management fora and literary festivals.

Born in Mumbai, with a childhood spent largely in Patna and Delhi, she currently lives in Pune with her mariner husband, Prakash, their two daughters, Kimaya and Amiya, two dogs Chic and Beau, and Cotton, the uncurious cat.