The enthralling story of an extraordinary woman and her part in the defining moments of recent British Indian history
Anita Anand has been a radio and television journalist for almost twenty years. She is the presenter of Any Answers on BBC Radio 4. During her career, she has also presented Drive, Doubletake and the Anita Anand Show on Radio 5 Live, and Saturday Live, The Westminster Hour, Beyond Westminster, Midweek and Woman’s Hour on Radio 4. On BBC television she has presented The Daily Politics, The Sunday Politics and Newsnight. She lives in west London. This is her first book. @tweeter_anita
Sophia is the sort of remarkable, almost unbelievable untold true
story that every writer dreams of chancing upon. A wonderful debut,
written with real spirit and gusto. Anita Anand has produced a
winner
*William Dalrymple*
Anita Anand’s gripping book is a sad story of dispossession and
dislocation … The story is fast-paced and thrilling … A noble book
****
*Daily Telegraph*
A fascinating and elegantly written life of one of the unknown
giants of women's suffrage
*Katie Hickman, author of Daughters of Britannia*
Vivid and compelling … Anand writes with the vigour and imaginative
reach of a novelist. The many horrors of her enthralling narrative
are lightened with judicious flashes of dry wit and a fine eye for
detail … A gripping, emotionally powerful story
*New Statesman*
A groundbreaking work that at last tells the important story of
Sophia Duleep Singh: unflinching princess-in-exile, doughty
moderniser and tenacious suffragette. From the streets of India to
the corridors of power, Sophia artfully examines the tensions
between East and West; and one woman's choice between fighting for
freedom and staying silent
*Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, Duchess of
Devonshire*
Anita Anand has definitively restored to history one of the most
important and charismatic figures in the suffragette movement. This
thoroughly absorbing and deftly informative account instantly
pulled me into the irresistible adventure and vitality of Sophia
Duleep Singh’s defiant and innovative existence. Anand’s timely
biography is a wonderful testament to Sophia’s lifetime of
commitment to Indian independence and the advancement of women, and
to the range and courage of her achievements
*Rachel Holmes, author of Eleanor Marx*
Anand is a strong, confident writer … A rollickingly enjoyable
read: a comprehensively researched and zippy account of a
profoundly unusual life
*Evening Standard*
Anand vividly paints the picture of a society girl turned
revolutionary … With deftness and sensibility, Anand tells of the
extraordinary contradictions at the heart of the relationship
between the Queen and this family … Anand’s skill is to bring to
life a character whose name does not figure in the annals of the
suffragette movement
*Observer*
Sometimes you hear biographers complain that all the great figures
have gone … In this book, her confident and compelling debut, the
BBC journalist and presenter Anita Anand leaves that argument in
shreds … Anand has triumphantly rescued Sophia from the pampered
oblivion in which a fearful Raj sought to bury her. In doing so,
she traces the excruciating double binds, emotional as much as
political, that tied imperial Britain to the jewel in its crown
*Boyd Tonkin, Independent Book of the Week*
Anand in her latest book uncovers not just an intriguing female
life, but also an important perspective on British-Indian colonial
history … Fresh and well written … What a story, and what a
successful telling of it
*The Times*
Sophia is so well researched that this is likely to remain a
definitive account … Anand’s passion shines
*Daily Express*
Real entertainment. Shannon has continued to build on this imagined
world with intricacy, and Paige’s voice comes through to deliver a
suspenseful story
*Washington Post*
Fascinating biography-cum-history of a singular life
*Independent*
A terrifically absorbing read
*Mslexia*
Sophia and her family cannot be understood without understanding
the context of developments in the British Empire in this period.
Giving details on the development of Sikh traditions, revolutionary
ferment in the Indian subcontinent, the British suffrage movement,
the First World War, and the partition of India and Pakistan, Anand
presents a comprehensive and valuable historical biography. Anand
has gone into key archives at Windsor, the Museum of London and
elsewhere to uncover the official records and surviving
correspondence about Sophia, enriched by photographs and her own
interviews. This is a necessary biography, drawing attention to the
broader facets of the British suffragette movement and the depth of
connections between the Indian subcontinent and Britain in the
Victorian and Edwardian eras
*The Times*
Anita Anand’s Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary unearths
the extraordinary story of a forgotten British-Indian suffragette
who went from Queen Victoria’s goddaughter to militant activist
*Guardian*
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