Victoria by Daisy Goodwin Published by St. Martin's Press Publication Date: November 22nd 2016
Pages: 404
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“They think I am still a little girl who is not capable of being a Queen.”
Lord Melbourne turned to look at Victoria. “They are mistaken. I have not known you long, but I observe in you a natural dignity that cannot be learnt. To me, ma’am, you are every inch a Queen.”
In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Many thought it was preposterous: Alexandrina — Drina to her family — had always been tightly controlled by her mother and her household, and was surely too unprepossessing to hold the throne. Yet from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.
One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband….
Drawing on Victoria’s diaries as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and writer of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen even more richly to life in this magnificent novel.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
After reading Victoria by Daisy Goodwin, I can’t wait to watch the PBS production! I learned a lot reading this one and further expanded my vocabulary. I enjoyed the descriptions of the gowns worn in the book and that will be something to forward to seeing on TV series. The best part of the book though is definitely the banter and dialogue among the characters—especially Victoria and Melbourne.
I don’t know if Victoria and her Prime Minister were as close to each other in reality as they grew to be in this book, but their relationship was the highlight of this book for me. While I had hoped for a bit more scandalous behavior out of Melbourne based on his reputation, in the end I was happy he was an admirable gentleman and had the queen’s best interests at heart. Throughout the story, his interactions with the queen were touching, entertaining & at times flirty.
Goodwin was also witty in the descriptions and dialogue amongst the other characters as well. Victoria’s mother’s personality and her blind devotion to Conroy were comical—although a bit tragic as well. The parliament members and other politicians and movers & shakers were great fodder for comedy too! Overall, I would recommend this book. It’s especially entertaining if you enjoy historical fiction.
