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Victoria & Abdul

the True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant /
May 27, 2018FabulouslyWeird rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The story of Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim is gracefully laid out from the start of their friendship to the end. Given the amount of primary sources that were available to the author she did a great job telling the story that King Edward (fuelled by paranoia) attempted to erase from history altogether. I picked up this book intrigued by the movie trailers of Judi Dench of this book but history buff as I am, I wanted to read the book first. Most of the time you feel as if you are the Queen hearing the descriptions of India and the smells; feeling the wonder attached to these new senses. Shrabani Basu does a wonderful job of grasping the passion the Queen had for learning the language of the people of India and having Indians on her staff displaying the pleasure she had for their culture and attire. Although her family and household disapproved wholeheartedly against the Munshi she stood by him steadfastly as it is implied he was her only friend. Perhaps the story could also be an example of mob mentality as they relentlessly attempted to discredit him and torment his family even after his death. I am left hoping that, although lost to history, that Rashidan Karim never returned the letters after her death.