An introduction to the biography sectionTHERE WAS A REASON WHY A PUBLISHER came to me to write about my Anglo-Indian childhood. It was in 1996. There was a great awareness of the contribution writers from the Commonwealth were making in all areas of British life, and memories were still fresh of life before and after the British Empire and WW2.
Children were learning about it, and this was a good way to interest them in live history. Floella Benjamin and Michael Foreman were others who were asked to contribute to such a series. I had spent the previous four years writing 'The Surya Trilogy' – three books which covered the years in India leading up to Independence followed by the horrors of Partition, when India was divided into two with the creation of Pakistan. It made sense for me to write about my early childhood, as I had used so much of my own memories and family history to write my novels. |
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