Tim Allender’s Learning Femininity in Colonial India, 1820–1923 (Manchester University Press) uses a broad framework to examine the many life experiences of women living in colonial India and how their position changed, both personally and professionally, over this long period of study. Drawing on a rich documentary record from archives in the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, North America, Ireland and Australia Allender builds a clear picture of the colonial-configured changes that influenced women’s interactions with the colonial state.