In 1916: India is simmering with discontent against the Raj. Enter English proto-feminist Annie Besant, notorious at home for the match-girls' strike, political, charismatic. In India she finds a new family and a new cause. This book explores the story of Annie Besant's relationship with India.

Explores the incredible story of Annie Besant's relationship with India and the boy who went on to become one of India's greatest teachers and thinkers - Krishnamurti. 1916: India is simmering with discontent against the Raj. Enter English proto-feminist Annie Besant, notorious at home for the match-girls' strike, political, charismatic. In India she finds a new family and a new cause. Gandhi hails her as the leader of the Congress Party after she courts imprisonment for promoting Indian Home Rule. She admires him - but can rulers ever befriend the ruled? Can Annie's great love affair with India last? ... or is she mistaken in her beliefs, politics and adoptions?

STORYTELLER Towards the end, when Amma grew frail and lay dying before my eyes, I felt that in all my years as a yogi the one thing I’d learnt and understood well was the art of letting go. Dying, death and transformation are at the heart of Lord Buddha’s teaching. ‘Buddha alone truly and fully knows the world. Indeed, it is very difficult to understand this world; although it seems true, it is not, and although, it seems false it is not’. After years of seeking knowledge, I returned, not a lot wiser, but subdued and humbled. It was the summer of 1916, I think. A.B. – her name sprang at me wherever I went. Mysterious dreams and questions nagged me. This feeling that she held the key to the future, to some secret path to knowledge took root inside me and grew stronger, until one day I just walked into my dream, and found myself knocking on her door. (Walks over to Annie’s house.) The tall building of the Theosophical Society in Madras shimmered in the sun, a white gem set against the emerald banks of the River Adyar. I’d no idea what I’d say to her… (Beat. We hear the knock.)