Ruby Lal

“A luminous biography.” —Rafia Zakaria, GuardianFour centuries ago, a Muslim woman ruled an empire. Nur Jahan, daughter of a Persian noble and widow of a subversive official, became the twentieth and

In 1611, thirty-four-year-old Nur Jahan, daughter of a Persian noble and widow of a subversive official, became the twentieth and favorite wife of the Emperor Jahangir, who ruled the vast Mughal Empir

In this engaging and eloquent history, Ruby Lal traces the becoming of nineteenth-century Indian women through a critique of narratives of linear transition from girlhood to womanhood. In the north Indian patriarchal environment, women's lives were dominated by the expectations of the male universal, articulated most clearly in household chores and domestic duties. The author argues that girls and women in the early nineteenth century experienced freedoms, eroticism, adventurousness and playfulness, even within restrictive circumstances. Although women in the colonial world of the later nineteenth century remained agential figures, their activities came to be constrained by more firmly entrenched domestic norms. Lal skillfully marks the subtle and complex alterations in the multifaceted female subject in a variety of nineteenth-century discourses, elaborated in four different sites - forest, school, household, and rooftops.

In a fascinating and innovative study, first published in 2005, Ruby Lal explores domestic life and the place of women in the Mughal court of the sixteenth century. Challenging traditional, orientalist interpretations of the haram that have portrayed a domestic world of seclusion and sexual exploitation, the author reveals a complex society where noble men and women negotiated their everyday life and public-political affairs in the 'inner' chambers as well as the 'outer' courts. Using Ottoman and Safavid histories as a counterpoint, she demonstrates the richness, ambiguity and particularity of the Mughal haram, which was pivotal in the transition to institutionalisation and imperial excellence.

Ruby Lal explores domestic life and the place of women in the Mughal court of the sixteenth century. Challenging traditional, orientalist interpretations of the haram that have portrayed a domestic wo

★長踞POPO濃情館人氣榜、珍珠榜、收藏榜TOP1★站上總點閱突破350萬★讀者苦等實體化超過1000天，期待度100% POPO悸動系愛情作家．Lal繼經典作《討厭喜歡你》，又一超人氣力作，書寫扣人心弦的甜虐風戀愛物語！外純內野直球底迪vs外冷內軟面具姐姐在虛假的面紗下，他們沉溺、他們糾纏，戒不掉對彼此的執念。我們這樣的人，懦弱膽小、多愁善感。卻有個人試圖突破心防，喜歡我、包容我、體諒我。✿收錄最新番外〈日光與糖，小狗與愛人〉、〈他所迎來的破曉〉✿首刷加贈：神祕面具書籤卡（※首刷售完即無贈品）「我不喜歡比我小的，我只把你當弟弟⋯⋯」「我不小，滿十八了。而且，姐姐明明也喜歡我抱妳、碰妳。」個性柔軟害羞的司倪，有嚴重的社交恐懼症。她無法在人多的場合發言，在陌生人面前更是無所適從。因此每到夜晚，她戴起面具，藏起骨子裡的易碎膽怯，扮演著餐酒館裡冷豔疏離的「Ni」，什麼都敢做、什麼都敢說。某夜的多管閒事，司倪順手救了一名男孩──朝鶴，從此，黏人純真的「弟弟」便闖入了她的生活。明明兩人互不熟悉，她卻能卸下心防，自在地照顧他、關心他，還逐漸發展出只有兩人知道的地下關係！他讓她知道，原來，膽小懦弱的她，也能讓人依靠、讓人信賴。「只睡覺，其餘的都不要想！」「姐姐難道還想做其他事嗎？」司倪以為他們只會是夜晚的知己，沒想到她卻發現了朝鶴未曾顯露的一面。在她面前，他孤寂、執著、依賴、傷痕累累，可在他人面前，他受眾人簇擁，是耀眼的天之驕子，甚至還有關係匪淺的女孩圍繞在他身邊！她再也無法說服自己，他仍是那個讓她心軟、需要留心的弟弟……