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The Editor
Published by Monsoon
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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Table of Contents
About the Book
For readers of The Paris Wife (Paula McLain) and That Churchill Woman (Stephanie Barron) – a historical novel about a woman who has shaped a famous man’s legacy, and which asks the reader to question whether that legacy deserves to endure.
London, July 1826: Lady Sophia Raffles is left widowed and in debt after the sudden death of her husband, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, later remembered as the ‘founder of Singapore’. Determined to restore his name after he is cleared of the East India Company’s charges, Sophia takes on the formidable challenge of compiling an account of his life. Her Memoir of the Life and Public Service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles is published to critical acclaim in 1830.
Accomplished at enormous personal and financial cost, at a time when women did not write memoirs, it is a remarkable feat. It becomes the single most important source for all later accounts of her husband, saving him from obscurity and shaping his legacy. But Sophia must also confront shadowy truths behind the glory she feels bound to uphold, and face doubts about the marriage she thought she knew. Set against vivid impressions of Sumatra, Java, Penang and Singapore, her journey spans the transformation from grief-stricken widow to powerful arbiter of history.
London, July 1826: Lady Sophia Raffles is left widowed and in debt after the sudden death of her husband, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, later remembered as the ‘founder of Singapore’. Determined to restore his name after he is cleared of the East India Company’s charges, Sophia takes on the formidable challenge of compiling an account of his life. Her Memoir of the Life and Public Service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles is published to critical acclaim in 1830.
Accomplished at enormous personal and financial cost, at a time when women did not write memoirs, it is a remarkable feat. It becomes the single most important source for all later accounts of her husband, saving him from obscurity and shaping his legacy. But Sophia must also confront shadowy truths behind the glory she feels bound to uphold, and face doubts about the marriage she thought she knew. Set against vivid impressions of Sumatra, Java, Penang and Singapore, her journey spans the transformation from grief-stricken widow to powerful arbiter of history.
Why We Love It
“Raffles has long been celebrated as the founder of modern Singapore, but The Editor made me look afresh at both the man and the making of that reputation. Jennifer Lindsay takes a woman largely relegated to the margins of history and puts her at the centre, imagining Sophia Raffles as she edits and shapes her husband’s legacy. It is intelligent, beautifully researched historical fiction that brings nineteenth-century Java, Singapore and London vividly to life while asking a wonderfully intriguing question: how much of the history we inherit depends on the person who gets to tell it?”
—Phil Tatham, Publisher, Monsoon Books
Product Details
- Publisher: Monsoon (September 1, 2026)
- Length: 240 pages
- ISBN13: 9781915310736
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Raves and Reviews
Woven around the indomitable character of one remarkable woman, this novel lives at many levels. Sophia Raffles’ tenacity in securing her husband’s legacy is an exceptional tale brilliantly told.
– Peter Carey, Fellow Emeritus, Trinity College, Oxford
An evocative portrayal of how Sophia Raffles’ grief and determination shaped British colonial history.
– Annabel Gallop, author of Early Views of Indonesia
It is not Raffles’ but Sophia’s story, as she confronts the past, tears down the mansplaining by the Company men, and deals with concerned male members of the Raffles clan.
– Chor Lee Lin, former director, National Museum of Singapore
A deeply moving novel that brings history to life.
– Jack C Richards, author and honorary professor, University of Sydney
A moving tribute to a courageous woman whose life counted not only to the husband whose fame she guaranteed, to herself, and to their children, but also to historians of the British Empire, and to all those interested in women’s roles in shaping male historical narratives.
– Rosie Milne, Asian Review of Books
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