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‘An exquisite and beguiling debut, re-centering the lives of women and girls in the wake of Alexander the Great's devastating invasions of ancient India. This is a novel steeped in history and mythology, haunting yet sensual, written in prose to luxuriate in.

An unforgettable retelling.’

Victoria MacKenzie

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‘An intimate epic – two women journey from the margins of history to stand against the greatest of conquerors.  A story of power, love, survival and resistance, meticulously researched, lyrically written and structurally ambitious. A stunning debut.’​

​Samit Basu

'A gorgeous, sensual, completely captivating novel that immerses the reader in an ancient world and history, at once recognizable and utterly remote from our own.

A stunning, fantastical debut from a superb writer — I couldn’t put it down.'

Elizabeth Hand

'Anasuya’s The Poison Palace is as intricate as a tapestry—grand in its scope,

with captivatingly rich details and prose. An epic debut, intimately told.'

Chelsea Abdullah

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'Shreya Ila Anasuya's The Poison Palace unfolds the era of Alexander the Great's conquering rampage across Eurasia with a graceful, fiery verisimilitude both intimate and mythic, starting from the Indian subcontinent and stretching all the way to ancient Babylon – it resounds in time, and sings to the present with a singular voice. Don't miss it.'​

​Indra Das

'A captivating tale that will sweep you into a world where

myth and ancient history entwine like serpents.

Ambitious, powerful and dreamy—The Poison Palace will leave you breathless.'

Shubnum Khan

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'Such an unusual, intelligent and lucidly written book, which opens up

an old story with the most surprising glints and insights.'

Ruth Padel

'A dazzling debut...Shreya Ila Anasuya has entwined fantasy with myth and history to give us

a novel as rare as the fabled snake-jewel.

It will doubtless snag readers in both East and West.'​

Annie Zaidi

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‘Shreya Ila Anasuya’s The Poison Palace may sport the garb of a masterful historical novel. Underneath lies the bone structure of a slow-burn thriller with the musculature of a travelogue. Its eloquent heart, though, beats an inventory. Of wounds, of loss, but also acts of quiet solidarity, of reclaimed selfhood, whose echoes will outlast monarchs and their monuments. And of the many shades of belonging, of yearning which it celebrates.' ​

Karthika Nair 

‘The Poison Palace is Anasuya's debut novel, we are told, but her voice is alluring, her storytelling assured, and the scope of her narrative ambitious. And underneath it all is a thoughtful, playful and empathetic resurrection of the being and identity of a woman banished to the margins. One not to be missed.’ ​

Jayasree Kalathil