Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters: An Eccentric Englishwoman and Her Lost Kingdom
Eade has resurrected a relatively minor historical figure, with mixed results. While Sylvia Brooke’s role as the wife of Sir Vyner Brooke, otherwise known as the last White Rajah of Sarawak—roughly, the eastern half of Borneo—serves as a rather interesting footnote to a period of excess and transition, the fact that her own résumé includes few personal achievements and ambitions significantly reduces her interest as the ­primary subject of a full-length biography. Still, for those intrigued by the peculiarities of the British raj and the waning days of the empire, this makes fascinating reading. Although there is little to admire about Sylvia, a rather shallow and hedonistic woman, her personal chronicle does provide a window into an exotic and, thankfully, all but vanished colonial world. --Margaret Flanagan