Victoria & Abdul

(Paperback, Main)

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Victoria & Abdul tells the extraordinary true story of Queen Victoria's relationship with Abdul Karim, her Muslim manservant, who travelled from India to present a ceremonial medal as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee but within months became her personal teacher of Urdu and dedicated spiritual advisor. The unprecedented and unlikely friendship caused meltdown within the royal household, the ensuing battle royale pitting the Queen against the court and her entire family.

Through the prism of a highly unusual love story, Lee Hall's Victoria & Abdul, based on the book by Shrabani Basu, explores race, religion, power and the farce of empire through the prism of a highly unusual love story.

Author Bio

Born in Newcastle in 1966. Started writing for Radio in 1995 winning awards for I Luv You Jimmy Spud, Spoonface Steinberg and Blood Sugar which all made the journey to other media, his screenplay for Billy Elliot was nominated for an Oscar and was adapted into a multi-award winning stage musical. He has worked as writer in residence for Live Theatre, Newcastle and the RSC and has adapted many plays for the stage including Goldoni's A Servant to Two Masters (Young Vic/RSC), Brecht's Mr Puntila and his Man Matti (Right Size/ Almeida) and Heijermans' The Good Hope (RNT). He is currently working with Roger Waters on a stage adaptation of The Wall.