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megatsunami's review
5.0
Those suffragettes were frickin awesome.
Sophia was especially awesome. I like that she got involved in activism in her 30's. I like how she used her class privilege/ princess status to get more attention for women's rights.
Also, the British did f-ed up things in Punjab. Not a surprise.
Also also, did you know concentration camps were invented in South Africa by a British commander to use primarily against the Boers? And that Gandhi learned about hunger strikes from suffragettes in British prisons?
I guess I should probably mention that this book is SO GOOD.
Sophia was especially awesome. I like that she got involved in activism in her 30's. I like how she used her class privilege/ princess status to get more attention for women's rights.
Also, the British did f-ed up things in Punjab. Not a surprise.
Also also, did you know concentration camps were invented in South Africa by a British commander to use primarily against the Boers? And that Gandhi learned about hunger strikes from suffragettes in British prisons?
I guess I should probably mention that this book is SO GOOD.
satyajitc's review
4.0
An Indian princess, Victoria's god-daughter, out of place in British society, uses her clout in the upper class to support the suffragette movement and wounded Indian soldiers during WWI. There's a great movie waiting to be made on her life story.
nadiamasood's review
5.0
This fascinating, vivid, and unforgettable book is a work of history which reads like a novel!
Princess Sophia Duleep Singh could have easily spent a quiet and lavish life in London, owing to the generosity of her godmother, Queen Victoria. However, when Ms. Anand opens with the prologue depicting Sophia at a suffragette meeting, we know her life as a political activist is anything but a quiet existence.
Princess Sophia was thoroughly British. And yet, she was also Indian. Her father—who was crowned king as a young child—had to sign his kingdom over to the British Empire. This part of the story, the downfall of the brave Sikh empire because of a few traitors was sad to read. It was also sad to read how Duleep Singh's life ended the way it did.
This book, however, focuses on Sophia. Anand provides exceptionally vivid accounts of the opposition from the government and police brutality that the women had to battle in order to be given the right to vote. There are also horrific descriptions of how women who went on hunger strikes were roughly force-fed by the authorities to keep them alive.
This book is meticulously researched and passionately written. Anita Anand certainly deserved winning the Eastern Eye Alchemy Festival Award for Literature for this! I would recommend it to anyone interested in women’s history, colonialism, or the women’s suffrage movement.
Princess Sophia Duleep Singh could have easily spent a quiet and lavish life in London, owing to the generosity of her godmother, Queen Victoria. However, when Ms. Anand opens with the prologue depicting Sophia at a suffragette meeting, we know her life as a political activist is anything but a quiet existence.
Princess Sophia was thoroughly British. And yet, she was also Indian. Her father—who was crowned king as a young child—had to sign his kingdom over to the British Empire. This part of the story, the downfall of the brave Sikh empire because of a few traitors was sad to read. It was also sad to read how Duleep Singh's life ended the way it did.
This book, however, focuses on Sophia. Anand provides exceptionally vivid accounts of the opposition from the government and police brutality that the women had to battle in order to be given the right to vote. There are also horrific descriptions of how women who went on hunger strikes were roughly force-fed by the authorities to keep them alive.
This book is meticulously researched and passionately written. Anita Anand certainly deserved winning the Eastern Eye Alchemy Festival Award for Literature for this! I would recommend it to anyone interested in women’s history, colonialism, or the women’s suffrage movement.
leslielikesthings's review
3.0
Granddaughter of a powerful Sikh maharajah, and goddaughter of Queen Victoria, Sophia grew up completely anglicized after the British stole her father's kingdom. She was an important but largely forgotten figure in the suffragette movement. I don't read many biographies, and it took me awhile to get through this one, but once I got into it I found it fascinating, especially the later part of her life, the suffragette years through to her death.
dhall58's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
pixiegael's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This is an interesting history of both the British in India and women's fight for the vote, and all the oppression that went with them. Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and her ancestors provide an excellent lens through which to view those histories.
The description of Sophia's early life is rather overloaded with clothes and jewellery, for my taste, but I found her political awakening and involvement with the suffragette movement fascinating. Ditto the stories of the brutal colonial regime in India and the 2nd Boer War in South Africa. Curzon, Kitchener, Dyer - we British should be truly ashamed.
The description of Sophia's early life is rather overloaded with clothes and jewellery, for my taste, but I found her political awakening and involvement with the suffragette movement fascinating. Ditto the stories of the brutal colonial regime in India and the 2nd Boer War in South Africa. Curzon, Kitchener, Dyer - we British should be truly ashamed.
clay1st's review
3.0
This book was enjoyable and interesting but somewhat forgettable.
In my opinion, Sophia herself came hardly came across as a revolutionary character. The account of British Indian relations/politics and of the suffragette movement itself were enjoyable.
In my opinion, Sophia herself came hardly came across as a revolutionary character. The account of British Indian relations/politics and of the suffragette movement itself were enjoyable.
emmavardy2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Tells the story of Sophia Duleep Singh. Fascinating story. She was a Princess and a suffragette. Amazing lady.