Sophia

Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary

De: Anita Anand

Narrado por: Tania Rodrigues

Bloomsbury presents Sophia by Anita Anand, read by Tania Rodrigues.

**By the presenter of the hit podcast EMPIRE**

'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

'A fascinating and elegantly written life of one of the unknown giants of women's suffrage' Katie Hickman, author of Daughters of Britannia

The enthralling story of an extraordinary woman and her part in the defining moments of recent British Indian history

Winner of the Eastern Eye Alchemy Festival Award for Literature

In 1876 Sophia Duleep Singh was born into royalty. Her father, Maharajah Duleep Singh, was heir to the Kingdom of the Sikhs, a realm that stretched from the lush Kashmir Valley to the craggy foothills of the Khyber Pass and included the mighty cities of Lahore and Peshawar. It was a territory irresistible to the British, who plundered everything, including the fabled Koh-I-Noor diamond.

Exiled to England, the dispossessed Maharajah transformed his estate at Elveden in Suffolk into a Moghul palace, its grounds stocked with leopards, monkeys and exotic birds. Sophia, god-daughter of Queen Victoria, was raised a genteel aristocratic Englishwoman: presented at court, afforded grace-and-favour lodgings at Hampton Court Palace and photographed wearing the latest fashions for the society pages. But when, in secret defiance of the British government, she travelled to India, she returned a revolutionary.

Sophia transcended her heritage to devote herself to battling injustice and inequality,a far cry from the life to which she was born. Her causes were the struggle for Indian independence, the fate of the Lascars, the welfare of Indian soldiers in the First World War – and, above all, the fight for female suffrage. She was bold and fearless, attacking politicians, putting herself in the front line and swapping her silks for a nurse's uniform to tend wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefields. Meticulously researched and passionately written, this enthralling story of the rise of women and the fall of empire introduces an extraordinary individual and her part in the defining moments of recent British and Indian history.©2022 Anita Anand (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Inspired story and story telling

Anita Anand is a tenacious researcher and storyteller. I laughed and cried at this telling of a extraordinary life.

Beautifully told

Loved listening to this story of s woman’s life. A life so full of history, privilege and humiliation all at the same time beautifully told by Anita Anand and pleasantly narrated .

Amazing and inspiring story that has been lost to history

This book is a wonderful and important story that has taken me on a journey through 19th and 20th century empire, along with a truly extraordinary woman who impacted the freedom we as women have today in both England and India. So delighted that the author uncovered this incredible history and it's wonderfully tols