“A Parsi friend brought me to visit the historic Parsi colony where she lives, and I had the honour of speaking with an elder neighbour to learn more about women’s lives in the early 20th Century. Massey visited the iconic Wilson College building, which inspired the physical setting of Woodburn College in the book. I travelled to Mumbai to fact check what I had and to gather more details in January 2020, when life was still normal and free.” That gave me the framework for many events occurring in the novel. A film group in the UK posted the old public relations films of the prince’s activities while in India, on YouTube. “The British government’s India Office made public online, a detailed daily record of Prince Edward’s activities. Research, Massey says, followed her formula for all her books with lots of reading, phone and email interviews, and travel to India.
When a Parsi girl is killed during the riots, Perveen is intent on finding the truth.” However, a belief by many at the time, that all Parsis and Anglo-Indians supported the Prince’s visit led to them being targeted. “I wanted to explore what happened during these riots, and how Perveen would have felt shocked and vulnerable in a way that she had never experienced before. The 57-year-old British-American author says she learnt that the Prince of Wales’s visit, which was intended by the colonial government to build India’s loyalty to the Crown, instead inspired riots that resulted in hundreds of injuries, loss of life, considerable vandalism and theft. However, Bombay’s high society does treat Prince Edward with extreme reverence hence the title.” Truth of the matter On the morning of his arrival, Perveen says to Mustafa, who works in the law firm, that Edward is not the prince of Bombay. “At the time he was Britain’s crown prince and she with many Bombay citizens was advocating for independence. The title, Massey says comes out of a sarcastic comment made by Perveen, who does not welcome the prince’s tour of India.
(Stay up to date on new book releases, reviews, and more with The Hindu On Books newsletter. The Bombay Prince, (Penguin Random House) Sujatha Massey’s feisty heroine, Perveen Mistry, the only woman lawyer in Bombay, has a lot on her plate from riots to the death of an 18-year-old student, Freny Cuttingmaster, during the royal visit. There is unrest and Perveen Mistry is in the thick of things. The Prince of Wales’, later Edward VIII, four-month tour of India in 1921 is fraught with tension.
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