I totally enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the interaction of the British royalty regarding the people of India and how Victoria ruled them. I understand this is to be a movie soon and I did find the writing and the experiences portrayed to be engrossing and interesting.

We know so much about Queen Victoria and yet this very important facet of her life has been in a si sense underreported. Victoria developed an engrossing relationship with Abdul while incensing her staff, her family and those around her. Her care and concern for Abdul seemed limitless, while her family and her staffs' inability to accept him and those of his kind made for a disquieting read into racial equality and its worth in Victorian England.

Both main characters were charismatic. They infused each other with confidence and importance and developed an intense friendship which nothing was able to penetrate as hard as some tried to break it apart. It was sad to read of Abdul's demise in standing following Victoria's death and how his life of privilege while being nourished in the bosom of Victoria turned against him when she died. He, it seemed, truly loved and cherished her while she seemed to share the very same feelings towards him. She, the Queen of England during its rise in colonialism found it within her to take into her heart this Indian young man and by doing so thus embraced the Indian people which she tenderly ruled.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this novel for an unbiased review.

This book provided a vivid glimpse into that relationship of epic historical contradiction between apparent friendliness and the power differentials inherent in colonialist arrangements.