A Child Widow’s Story

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“It was a hot afternoon in May in 1961 when I went there for the first time, and the bougainvilleas which climbed over the facade of Sister Subbalakshmi’s house were all in bloom ... Just as I reached the veranda wall, I saw Sister sitting on the swing, swaying’ gently backwards and forwards...”

Monica Felton, after a lifetime devoted to public service in England, had been in Madras for a little over four years when one of Sister Subbalakshmi’s nephews suggested that she should try to persuade the old lady to tell her the story of her life. Intimidated at first by the prospect of doing so, she was pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful and charming lady. The first meeting was to be followed by many others and the result is this stirring and engaging biography of one of India’s greatest social reformers who changed the lives of the young child widows of southern India forever.

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