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Victoria and Abdul
Victoria and Abdul | Shrabani Basu
The tall handsome Abdul Karim was just twenty-four when he arrived in England from Agra to wait at tables during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. An assistant clerk at Agra Central Jail, he suddenly found himself a personal attendant to the Empress of India herself. Within a year, he was established as a powerful figure at court, becoming the queens teacher, or Munshi, and instructing her in Urdu and Indian affairs. Devastated by the death of John Brown, her Scottish gillie, the queen had at last found his replacement.
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review
thea-block
Victoria and Abdul | Shrabani Basu
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Mehso-so

As much as I love this story and the author‘s focus on including as much source information as possible, I found the book was lacking in storytelling. Even a non-fiction historical account must engage the reader, if not with a narrative, then with questions which challenge the reader to draw their own conclusions or seek more answers. This account was too dry, too repetitive, and poorly organized.

⭐️⭐️1/2

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Butterfinger
Victoria and Abdul | Shrabani Basu
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"In her defence of the Munshi, she felt she was taking on a fight for the underdog against the racism and snobbery of the upper classes." The queen demonstrated enlightening ideas, but couldn't she have granted independence to his nation during her lifetime?

9 likes1 stack add
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comics_librarian
Victoria and Abdul | Shrabani Basu
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Mehso-so

There's very little sentiment to be found here, but that's to save room for the bevy of research and recovered accounts of this nearly-buried historical relationship.

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Jen2
Victoria and Abdul | Shrabani Basu
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Pickpick

So interesting!!!

rubyslippersreads Have you seen the movie yet? It's really good. 7y
DivineDiana @rubyslippersreads I saw the movie last week! So well done! I would love to read Abdul‘s actual journal! 7y
booksandsympathy I'm going to see the movie today! 7y
DrexEdit Saw the movie this past weekend. It's very good! I don't know if the actual journals can be read, but the movie is based on this book. 7y
DrexEdit Ugh! Sorry @Jen2. Posting too fast and not reading carefully. I blame my enthusiasm. Hope you are enjoying the book! After seeing the movie it's on my #tbr. 7y
75 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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BookishRedhead
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I've been on the fence about getting this book.
Decided to give it a go