Nush and the Stolen Emerald

By Jasbinder Bilan

Reviewed by Annaleise Byrd

Jasbinder Bilan is a British middle grade author whose family moved from their farm in India to Nottingham, England when she was eighteen months old. She has worked as a teacher and studied a masters of creative writing at Bath Spa University. In 2019, her novel Asha and the Spirit Bird won the prestigious but now-discontinued Costa Children’s Book Award. 

Nush and the Stolen Emerald was inspired by the little-known true story of a maharani (Indian princess) called Victoria Gowramma, who travelled to England in 1852 with her father at the age of eleven and was Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. Bilan came across a portrait of Gowramma and decided to write a historical middle grade story that shone a light on what was happening in Indian and Britain in the nineteenth century.

Bilan’s fictional maharani – eleven-year-old Anushka, known as Nush – is brave, feisty and opinionated. When she sneakily takes her twin brother’s place on a journey to England with their father, the Maharaja of Jaisalmer, to visit Queen Victoria, Nush has her own secret agenda for the trip: to retrieve the valuable emerald previously stolen from her family by the British East India Company. Her subsequent escapades with the British royal children are real old-school-style adventures, complete with treacherous plots, double-crossing villains, kidnappings and genuine danger. The action takes place in a variety of thrilling settings, from royal palaces to secret tunnels to shipyards.

This is a well-written and fast-paced story, with 38 chapters in its 274 pages. With themes of family, friendship, feminism and colonialism, it’s perfect for historical fiction and adventure fans aged nine and up. It would also be a suitable Readers Cup title for Years 5/6. It was a real treat to read a story set during a period of history not often explored in middle grade fiction. I’m looking forward to reading more from Jasbinder Bilan!

Chicken House 2024

Jasbinder Bilan

Annaleise Byrd is the author of middle grade portal fantasies Losing the Plot and Down the Plot Hole, and the picture book You Are Not a Pup!