When Italian journalist Livia Manera Sambuy came across a portrait of the little-known Indian princess of Amrit Kaur on a trip to Mumbai, she was intrigued by the assertion that she had died in a concentration camp after being arrested by the Gestapo for selling her jewels to help Jews flee the Nazis.
This is more of a travelogue or an adventure than a straightforward biography. Though the author tracks down every lead and pursues every avenue, the truth is that Amrit Kaur’s life was more complex and more shadowy than the straightforward heroic story that was displayed with her photograph at the exhibition in Mumbai.
Try as you might, there’s no definitive answers, and only a few glimpses at the truth of Amrit’s life. There’s hints at family drama which the author can’t get close enough to to get the true inside story. The author does manage to strip enough away of the myths surrounding Amrit to let light in on a more chaotic life – the life of a woman striving to be her own person and regain her independence, but one who, like most people, also made choices that are hard to understand.
But it is an engaging investigation that ranges far and wide and brings us into contact with a diverse cast of characters, from deposed royals to jewelry dealers to spies to a burlesque dancer. I learned a lot about what it was like to be an Indian royal in the last days of the British Raj and the early days of the Indian republic.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
