Temple of a Thousand Faces Read online

  Praise for the Novels of John Shors

  Temple of a Thousand Faces

  “An epic, extraordinary novel about love, beauty, and war, Temple of a Thousand Faces is sure to please.”

  —Sandra Gulland, bestselling author of Mistress of the Sun

  “A gripping love story with a mystical quality that is utterly beguiling. John Shors vividly re-creates the world of twelfth-century Angkor Wat with his breathtaking descriptions, and packs it with a powerful tale of danger and revenge that had me hooked. I was there. I lived it. Riding a war elephant or gliding naked through a pool of water lilies. Full of fascinating characters and impressive storytelling.”

  —Kate Furnivall, New York Times bestselling author of The Russian Concubine

  Beneath a Marble Sky

  “[A] spirited debut novel…. With infectious enthusiasm and just enough careful attention to detail, Shors gives a real sense of the times, bringing the world of imperial Hindustan and its royal inhabitants to vivid life.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Jahanara is a beguiling heroine whom readers will come to love; none of today’s chick-lit heroines can match her dignity, fortitude, and cunning…. Elegant, often lyrical writing distinguishes this literary fiction from the genre known as historical romance. It is truly a work of art, rare in a debut novel.”

  —The Des Moines Register

  “An exceptional work of fiction…a gripping account.”

  —India Post

  “Highly recommended…a thrilling tale [that] will appeal to a wide audience.”

  —Library Journal

  “Evocative of the fantastical stories and sensual descriptions of One Thousand and One Nights, Beneath a Marble Sky is the story of Jahanara, the daughter of the seventeenth-century Mughal emperor who built India’s Taj Mahal. What sets this novel apart is its description of Muslim-Hindu politics, which continue to plague the subcontinent today.”

  —National Geographic Traveler

  “[A] story of romance and passion…a wonderful book if you want to escape to a foreign land while relaxing in your porch swing.”

  —St. Petersburg Times

  “It is difficult to effectively bring the twenty-first-century reader into a seventeenth-century world. Shors accomplishes this nicely, taking the armchair traveler into some of the intricacies involved in creating a monument that remains one of the architectural and artistic wonders of the world.”

  —The Denver Post

  “[Shors] writes compellingly [and] does a lovely job of bringing an era to life…an author to anticipate.”

  —Omaha World-Herald

  Cross Currents

  “Shors re-creates the devastating, life-overturning tsunami in prose that is stunning and profoundly moving…. It is testament to the power of his depiction that I felt my own world wrenched apart in these pages—and that I finished the last two chapters, portraying the tragedy’s physical and emotional aftermath, more deeply desirous than ever to visit this rich and resilient place.”

  —National Geographic

  “Cross Currents is about the power of nature and the power of love—romantic, brotherly, and parental. You are held in suspense, watching the love between characters grow, knowing that this love is going to be tested severely when the tsunami hits. And when it does, you are carried away by the clash of both forces in a maelstrom of riveting action. I loved this book.”

  —Karl Marlantes, New York Times bestselling author of Matterhorn

  “John Shors has a great feeling for Thailand. The beauty of its geography and the pliant strength of its people are in every word of his novel Cross Currents, which is set in the days just before the tsunami. The suspense around what will happen to his characters (each with a vivid history and set of troubles) makes for a supremely readable tale.”

  —Joan Silber, author of The Size of the World

  “Gripping, moving, and ravishingly written, Shors’s latest is a stunning story of family, connection, and the astonishing power of nature.”

  —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

  The Wishing Trees

  “An affecting and sensitively rendered study of grief and loss, the healing power of artistic expression, and the life-altering rewards of travel to distant lands. I was deeply moved by this poignant and life-affirming novel.”

  —Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of She’s Come Undone

  “Shors’s fourth novel is a moving, emotional story about coping and coming to terms with loss. Anyone who has lost a loved one will relate to this poignant novel.”

  —Booklist

  “John Shors has made himself a reputation for re-creating exotic landscapes that surround heartwarming stories with captivating details. The Wishing Trees is no exception, as he replaces what might be a standard tale of recovery from loss with an alluring travelogue filled with colorful details of these chromatic countries.”

  —BookPage

  “Poignant…. Country by country, their odyssey transforms into a journey of worldly healing and renewal, nurtured by the wisdom and compassion they discover in the cultures they pass through and by the realization of the commonalities—hope, death, love—that bind all fathers, mothers, and children.”

  —National Geographic Traveler

  Dragon House

  “A touching story about, among other things, the lingering impacts of the last generation’s war on the contemporary landscape and people of Vietnam. In a large cast of appealing characters, the street children are the heart of this book; their talents, friendships, and perils keep you turning the pages.”

  —Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Wit’s End

  “A wonderful novel…. Shors transcends politics and headlines and finds the timeless and deeply human stories that are the essence of enduring fiction. This is strong, important work from a gifted writer.”

  —Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

  Beside a Burning Sea

  “A master storyteller…. Beside a Burning Sea confirms again that Shors is an immense talent…. This novel has the aura of the mythic, the magical, and that which is grounded in history. Shors weaves psychological intrigue by looking at his characters’ competing desires: love, revenge, and meaning. Both lyrical and deeply imaginative.”

  —Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club

  “Features achingly lyrical prose, even in depicting the horrors of war…. Shors pays satisfying attention to class and race dynamics, as well as the tension between wartime enemies. The survivors’ dignity, quiet strength, and fellowship make this a magical read.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “An astounding work. Poetic and cinematic as it illuminates the dark corners of human behavior, it is destined to be this decade’s The English Patient.”

  —Booklist

  “Shors has re-created a tragic place in time, when love for another was a person’s sole companion. He uses lyrical prose throughout the novel, especially in his series of haiku poems, [which] plays an integral role in the love story, and develops accessible, sympathetic characters…. A book that spans two and a half weeks, set on a deserted island, easily could become dull and redundant. But Shors avoids those turns by delving into the effects of war on each character, causing readers to attach themselves to the individuals yearning for home and the ones they love.”

  —Rocky Mountain News

  Also by John Shors

  Beneath a Marble Sky

  Beside a Burning Sea

  Dragon House

  The Wishing Trees

  Cross Currents

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  NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

  NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

  Published by New American Library, a division of

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

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  First published by New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  First Printing, February 2013

  Copyright © John Shors, 2013

  Readers Guide copyright © Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2013

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

  Shors, John.

  Temple of a thousand faces/John Shors.

  p. cm.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-59866-5

  1. Jayvarman VII, King of Cambodia, ca. 1120–ca. 1215—Fiction. 2. Cambodia—History—800–1444—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3619.H668T46 2013

  813’.6—dc23 2012032441

  Designed by Alissa Amell

  Title page photo courtesy of Alex Castellino and Andrew Ambraziejus

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  ALWAYS LEARNING PEARSON

  For Allison

  Author’s Preface

  One of the architectural and spiritual wonders of the world, Angkor Wat is a legendary temple located in Cambodia. At the time it was built almost a thousand years ago, Angkor Wat dominated the city of Angkor, which was populated by as many as a million people and was one of the largest and most advanced cities on earth. The local people, known as the Khmers, were skilled artisans, warriors, and scholars.

  For centuries, the Khmers fought the Chams, who flourished in what is now central Vietnam, for the spoils of Southeast Asia. Forces from both sides crossed borders, plundered treasuries, and captured slaves. In 1177, the Cham king, Jaya Indravarman IV, sailed up the Mekong River with a massive army and sacked Angkor, destroying much of the city and subjugating its citizens. A Khmer prince and his beloved wife avoided capture, vowing to retake Angkor.

  The events surrounding Temple of a Thousand Faces are based on historical fact. However, most details of this remarkable clash of civilizations have been lost through the trials of time. Only one surviving eyewitness account of the Khmer Empire exists, written by a Chinese envoy in the thirteenth century. Therefore, through necessity, I’ve created many elements of this novel. For the sake of the modern-day reader, I’ve also simplified the names of the people who fought and loved so long ago.

  Angkor Wat is believed by most scholars to be the largest religious structure in the world, a sprawling complex built by fifty thousand Khmer artisans and laborers with the help of four thousand elephants over a forty-year period. The temple, which was fashioned from five million tons of gray sandstone, is something I’ll never forget—seemingly too wondrous and immense to have been conjured by human minds and hands.

  What is known about Angkor Wat’s history is as remarkable as the sight of the temple itself. More than three hundred years before Columbus set sail, a series of betrayals and battles, deeds and sacrifices, decided the fate of one of the world’s greatest empires—an empire that was lost, but found again.

  One can live in a cluttered house. One cannot live with a cluttered heart.

  —KHMER SAYING

  Table of Contents

  Part One

  One: The Fallen

  Two: From Shadow to Shadow

  Three: Searching for Yesterday

  Four: Seeds of Discontent

  Five: Incursions

  Six: The Pain and Joy of Truth

  Seven: Discoveries

  Eight: Return to Angkor

  Nine: The Forging of Alliances

  Ten: The Passage Back

  Part Two

  Eleven: Rebirth

  Twelve: The Call of Battle

  Thirteen: Flight Through the Jungle

  Fourteen: Found

  Fifteen: The Pain of Paths

  Sixteen: The Scent of War

  Seventeen: Tributes

  Eighteen: Apologize

  Nineteen: First Sight

  Twenty: Final Preparations

  Part Three

  Twenty-one: Horizons

  Twenty-two: Fight on the Shore

  Twenty-three: When Banners Fall

  Twenty-four: Rebirth

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Readers Guide: Temple of a Thousand Faces

  The Fallen

  Angkor, Late Monsoon Season, 1177

  he temple of Angkor Wat had been designed to house the Hindu Gods but looked as if it had been built by them. Rising from the top of the massive, terraced temple were five towers shaped like lotus buds, the central and tallest of which stretched upward for two hundred feet. These towers symbolized the peaks of Mount Meru, the core of the Hindu universe, where the Gods resided and from where all creation sprang. The wide, square moat surrounding Angkor Wat represented the cosmic ocean, and the walls near the moat were meant to remind Hindus of the mountain ranges at the distant edges of the world.

  Dedicated to the God Vishnu, Angkor Wat could hardly have been more imposing. Each tower was tiered and tapered, coming to a point at the top and as wide as a tree’s canopy at the base. The towers were situated on the highest of three rectangular terraces, each stacked on top of another. Though visible from miles away, the towers weren’t the only element of Angkor Wat to inspire visitors. Large swaths of the temple were rich in carvings depicting heroic images of Vishnu and Shiva, as well as of the king who had ordered the temple built and everyday Khmer people. Many of these bas-reliefs were painted. Others were covered in gold.

  Though Prince Jayavar was Buddhist, the sight of Angkor Wat filled him with pride. At fifty years of age, he was old enough to remember the temple’s creation. Many of his early memories were dominated by the sights and sounds of sandstone being carted and chiseled. Now, as he stood on the causeway leading to the main entrance of the complex, he watched Hindu priests sweep the slabs of sandstone with thatched brooms.

  Jayavar’s gaze drifted to his chief wife, Ajadevi, who stood beside him. In the fashion followed by most Khmers of either sex, her hair was pulled back and wound in a k
not atop her head. Like everyone else, she was naked to the waist. A silk skirt cloth was wrapped around her hips and tied in the front below her belly button. The skirt cloth, which fell to her shins, featured a floral design of white irises against a blue background. Encircling her fingers, wrists, biceps, and ankles were golden hoops and rings. A chain of jasmine flowers hung from her neck, resting between her full breasts and infusing the air with a sweet scent. Both the soles of her feet and the palms of her hands had been dyed red. As was customary among her people, she went barefoot.

  Almost a decade younger than Jayavar, Ajadevi still retained some features from her youth. Her skin was mostly unlined and the color of teak. Her eyes, wide and dark, remained sharp and restless. Her angular, proud face reminded Jayavar of a boat’s bow. Like most Khmer women, Ajadevi’s body was thin, the result of a diet of rice, fruit, vegetables, and fish.

  Husband and wife leaned against a balustrade of the sandstone causeway. The stonework was rounded at the top—the midsection of a naga, a seven-headed snake, which formed the balustrade and was thought by Hindus to be a deity of the ocean and mountains.

  Though Jayavar and Ajadevi did not know it, they would be fleeing for their lives before the morning ended.

  “Your father is weakening,” Ajadevi said, lifting the jasmine flowers to her nose. “No one dares to say it, but everyone sees it.”

  Jayavar nodded, still watching the priests. Nearby, four slaves carried a high-ranking official past them on a palanquin held aloft with gold-plated poles. “Can no one find the strength to walk?” he asked softly, his right hand on the hilt of a sheathed sword that hung from his side. He was dressed like his wife, though his hip cloth fell only to his upper thighs. His face was round and pleasant, made memorable by full lips and a broad nose. The softness of his features contrasted with the rest of his body, which was dominated by muscles and scars. His hair, also gathered in a topknot, was streaked with gray.