Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary

When you read a biography, it should be apparent why the subject is important enough to deserve a book about their life. Unfortunately, we never learn that in this new biography. This book attempts to tell the life story of Sophia Duleep, a daughter of the last raj of Punjab before the British took over and sent the entire family to live in Britain. Sophia became the goddaughter of Queen Victoria and lived most of her life in England, except for a few brief stints back in India. We learn on one of her trips in India how she became a revolutionary suffragette and joined the suffragettes when she returned to England. Over time, she became known as both a princess and a suffragette. Disappointingly, this book just does not do Sophia’s story justice.

This book has errors, in my opinion, all over the place. First, it never explains why this particular person is important enough for a book this big. Second, the author goes off on tangents about particular people and events, and by the time she gets back to Sophia, you have lost the main story line. The author wants to tell the story of this particular era more than the life of Princess Sophia herself.