Sasson's Yasodhara and the Buddha explores the emotional dimensions to the story of the Buddha while also making new connections in familiar material ... to brilliant effect.

Times Literary Supplement

Yasodhara and the Buddha by Professor Sasson is a seminal and original contribution to Buddhism literature in terms of the life of the Buddha. An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, exceptionally well written, and thoroughly entertaining, Yasodhara and the Buddha is especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college and university library collections.

Midwest Book Review

Sasson's book is a page-turner, an enchanting fairytale, and at the same time grounded in the realities of the human condition. I was captured and pulled into the events of a time and place to which I was already predisposed. It opened my eyes to the human side of Buddha's story.

Shambhala Times

Vanessa R. Sasson combines the spirit of fiction with the beauty of Indian mythology and in-depth academic research. She shares the evocative story of the Buddha from the perspective of a forgotten woman: Yasodhara, the Buddha's wife.

Integral Yoga Magazine

Yasodhara and the Buddha is splendid for conjuring visions of floating, of gods and a tree watching over Buddha, of doors of flowers in the forests, or of love walking in the form of a man as it speaks about human ways of comprehending life.

Asian Book of Reviews

A feminist rendering of an ancient myth, Yasodhara and the Buddha lovingly revives the story of the Buddha's spouse for modern readers. Written by a religious scholar, the novel comes complete with scholarly sources, tracing its roots to the tradition of epic Indian religious storytelling. Marvellous.

Historical Novel Society