The Last Prince of Bengal

Written By Miriam Hanna

The Last Prince of Bengal: A Family’s Journey from an Indian Palace to the Australian Outback by Lyn Innes

Reviewed by Mimi
📙📙📙📙

Thank you to The Westbourne Press for sending me a copy of this fascinating read.

First and foremost, this is a personal story. Lyn Innes is a descendant of Nawab Nazim, a member of India's Royal Family who was forced to abdicate by the British and settle in the UK. This is the story of how he met and married an English chambermaid, and came up with a plan to escape the oppressive British.

It's a really interesting story. The opposite of rags to riches but just as compelling and intriguing. It's not like a textbook with lots of facts and history that you can get a bit caught up in, it's more a story with personalities and mystery written with such heart and personality. It's obvious that Innes has explored so much of her family history and this account just feels like a wonderful tribute to everything her family has been through.

This read was a rare thing, a history book without a lecture.

Miriam Hanna

Aka Mimi. I have known Linda for a very, very long time. We grew up together and you learn very quickly that when she gets an idea in her head, you would be an idiot not to back her to see it through. When the idea of the book club came up it was another lightbulb moment where I knew this wasn't only going to be a success but really fun.


I have always been a bookworm. Remember when you were little and you went shopping with your mum or dad and they gave you a toy or something to occupy yourself with whilst you were in the trolley? I used to get books to keep me quiet. They were and are my ultimate form of escapism and more and more they are about understanding who I am as a person. Books make me cry more than films and TV Shows. I can get lost for hours. I love historic fiction, political thrillers and gritty crime novels but also biographies and memoirs of people I find interesting like sportspeople. I was fortunate to be in the Harry Potter generation and if weren't for those books I don't know what I would have. Young literature was so poor at the point. To have a book that had me and my family queuing up at midnight to buy was seriously special.

Whether you listen to audio books, read off a kindle or stick to carrying around good old fashioned hard copies (that's me!) I truly believe reading is the best way to spend some time every day.


The books I would have with me on a desert island? 📚🏝Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Akzaban, Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters, The Power by Naomi Alderman, Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou, Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

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