I got this as a Netgalley book. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was a socialist who fought against colonialism and for the improvement in life for Indian women in particular - both before and after independence. She is one of those figures that you're unlikely to have come across in the UK. But as Nico Slate says in their introduction:

"Known throughout the subcontinent by her first name, Kamaladevi had acquired a considerable reputation for her work in the socialist and women’s movements and for having spent years in prison for her opposition to the British Raj."

Slate tells the story of her life, her thought and her battles (which are many). Like a lot of reform minded women in the 19th and 20th century she came from a relatively privileged background, but she refused to let the expectations of Indian women hold her back, even though that led to clashes with her family and husbands.

As a side point this book does also lets us see some of Gandhi's warts. He's often, particularly in the West, portrayed as a saint but he wasn't without flaws, particularly when it came to women and the role of women.

Slate's research seems to be pretty impressive and he acknowledges the authors of previous biographies of Kamaladevi. I do feel though that this book has two faults. It errs on the side of hagiography. She was clearly a smart and brave woman but this book made her feel almost faultless - although not quite:

"When the novelist Raja Rao called Kamaladevi “firmly Indian and therefore universal,” he recognized one of her greatest feats— the way in which she forged connections across the borders of race, nation, class, and gender, all while embracing the full powers of her own identity as an Indian woman.

In the introduction Slate talks about how inspiring he finds Kamaladevi and that is reflected in the book, which isn't necessarily something to be condemned. It is good to get our heroes known, especially if they're not as well-known as they should be. After all to a British person Indian independence often looks like a battle between Lord Mountbatten (or whichever British man is in charge) and Gandhi or Nehru. With Jinnah on the side lines pushing the Muslim cause. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of other Indians - men and women who we have never heard much about. And I've made an assumption that it is a non-Indian audience that Slate is aiming this book at as much as an Indian one, which might be unfair.

Which brings me quickly on to one of the strengths of the book, which is to show how well connected Kamaladevi was to other struggles in other countries against capitalism, racism, colonialism, and sexism.

My second issue is that it is a little over stuffed, which makes some of it a slog. I think Slate wants to do Kamaladevi justice so he's piled on the information. I think it would be a stronger book with a better edit to remove some of the repetition. It is hard when someone has had this active a life to hold back from showing her in her full glory, especially if you really want people to see her full glory. But I felt that Slate could have done so more effectively.

With those faults aside I found it worth reading. I am always keen to find out more about people like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay who we never really hear much about. Certainly in Britain, but then our ignorance of our own imperial past is truly glorious.