The Taj Mahal is one of the world's most spectacular monuments. Although thousands of people visit this magnificent testament of a shah's love for his wife, few consider the human stories behind the building of this memorial.

John Shors skillfully re-creates the turbulent times during the early 17th century when grief-stricken Shah Johan, emperor of Hindustan, watches the creation of this magnificent mausoleum in honor of his beloved wife who died in childbirth.

The novel, narrated as a flashback by Princess Johanara, the shah's eldest daughter and the most like her wise mother, details not only the lengthy building project but also the family dynamics in which siblings pursue separate paths without the influence of their mother or their grieving father.

Early hints of the fierce enmity, which will later erupt in disaster, occur when readers watch a developing family unit whose compatibility is marred by 11-year-old Aurangzeb. A sullen, angry boy "who wore his discontent as blatantly as the sword he'd started to carry," this younger brother exhibits an early, all-pervasive cruelty toward everyone except the military men whom he emulates.

Age intensifies his ruthlessness as he also develops a fanatical intolerance toward anyone who does not share his narrow religious views, an attitude completely at odds with the philosophy of his father and his older brother, the heir apparent, who seeks peace and understanding between rival religions.

Aurangzeb's enmity also extends to his sister, who has been appointed supervisor in charge of building the Taj Mahal and who has fallen in love with the master architect.

Shors dramatically reveals a man whose monomaniacal drive for power and whose implacable hatred knows no limits, extending to fratricide and even condemning his father to slow death.

However, Shors balances Aurangzeb's evil with the strong love surrounding the shah, his other children and even special servants as all seek a world of peace and beauty in the arts, architecture and learning.

The turbulence of the novel unfolds against a richly drawn backdrop of Indian life, replete with textures, sounds, sights and scents from the bazaars to the palace. Unfortunately, Shors' determination to draw his readers totally into the setting ultimately detracts from the novel's considerable power because his descriptions are too lengthy and too frequent and occasionally slow the novel to the pace of a sluggish river.

Yet, in spite of this flaw, the book remains an absorbing novel about the extremes of passion - with much relevance for our own time.

Joan Hinkemeyer is a Denver librarian and freelance writer.