A Digit of the Moon: A Hindoo Love Story
1898
In the tradition of the Arabian Nights, a king who has sworn off women undergoes a radical transformation when he glimpses a portrait. King Süryakánta, dismissive of love and indifferent to the countless women offered to him, sees the painted image of Anangarágá, a princess of legendary beauty and wisdom who dwells in a forest palace, and is instantly undone. What follows is a quest to win her hand, but Anangarágá is no passive prize. She poses riddles to her suitors; those who fail must accept defeat, while the wise may earn her regard. Told across twenty nights, F. W. Bain's 1898 romance draws on Sanskrit sources to weave a tapestry of Eastern mysticism, poetic philosophy, and psychological insight into the nature of desire. The novel explores what it means to be transformed by love when one least expects it, and how the heart's defenses can crumble before a single image. For readers who savor lyrical Victorian Orientalism, frame narratives within frame narratives, and stories that treat love as both art and mystery.
