British Indian journalist and author Anita Anand's book which is based on the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar has been shortlisted for a prestigious history-literary prize in the UK. The Patient Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj is a 2019 book based on the life of Indian revolutionary Udham Singh. Authored by Anita Anand, it was published by Simon and Schuster UK in April 2019 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in Amritsar, India. Anand’s book will compete with six others for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2020, awarded annually for a non-fiction book of specifically historical content.
Speaking to Asian Voice, Anita said, “I am delighted by the news and honoured to be in such company. The ugly side of the Raj has often been covered by the avalanche of Kiplingesque, rose tinted representations in cinema and literature. I’m glad to present the reality which faced Indians at the time.”
Others in the running for the 2,000 pounds prize include Julia Blackburn for 'Time Song: Searching for Doggerland'; Hazel Carby for 'Imperial Intimacies: A Tale of Two Islands'; Toby Green for 'A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution'; Caroline Moorhead for 'A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism'; Thomas Penn for 'The Brothers York: An English Tragedy'; and Roel Sterckx, 'Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Cook Ding'.
The winner of this year's prize will be announced in the memory of Marjorie Hessell-Tiltman who was a member of PEN during the 1960s-70s on November 26. Tiltman had bequeathed 100,000 pounds to the PEN Literary Foundation to found a prize in her name.
