Victoria: 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. She abandoned her hated first name in favor of Victoria and insisted, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother. Much to others’ dismay, she resolutely met 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 that she must 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 he was 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 brings the young queen even more richly to life in this magnificent novel.
Sissy:
Imagine our delight when we received this novel directly after we had visited Queen Victoria’s childhood home of Kensington Palace! We had spent two hours touring the special Victoria Exhibit, and could have easily spent double that time there. Bubby read Victoria first and couldn’t wait for me to read it so that we could compare notes about the differences in the way the palace tour and the book depicted her life.
Bubby:
Truthfully the official exhibit glossed over or omitted many of the less pleasant aspects of her life. Victoria and Albert’s early relationship was much stormier in the book, and clearly romanticized in the exhibit. Also, the Lord Melbourne romance thing didn’t really exist, but other than that, the book was pretty close to accurate. Let me just tell you that if you have the chance to go to London and see this exhibit, you should. It was amazing. We had allotted 2 full hours to spend there and we could have spent 3 or 4. The palace guards were literally kicking us out the doors because we wanted to stay and see more!
Sissy:
The book Victoria, which was extremely fascinating, is a direct tie-in with the author’s screenplay for the BBC/PBS drama series Victoria. It premiered on January 15, 2017. A romance with Lord Melbourne, which is prominently featured in the TV version, would be an interesting twist. But only if Lord Melbourne had looked like the actor portraying him in the drama.
Bubby:
Are you going to show them what Lord Melbourne really looked like?
Sissy:
But of course! As you can see from the pictures below, reality is far different from the TV show. On the left is the real Lord Melbourne and on the right is Rufus Sewell, who plays the part in the drama. During the time that Melbourne served as Prime Minister to Queen Victoria, he was past middle-aged and portly. A delightful friend and father figure he was for sure, but in matters of the heart he is a definite “ew” to Rufus Sewell’s “yum.” Regardless, the book Victoria is a fabulous novel full of wonderful information and insights gleaned from her actual diary.
Bubby:
Definite “ew” and “yum” contrast going on there! Before I read this book, I had always assumed that any Royal dwelling would be palatial in every aspect. It never occurred to me that Victoria would have spent her childhood sleeping on a cot in her mother’s room. Or that the draperies would be worn and dirty. But that was the case, evidently. Even now, although the public rooms of the palace are beautiful and luxurious, you can only see select areas, which don’t include her mother’s private rooms.
Sissy:
Too bad we couldn’t take pictures inside the palace. Good thing we have the internet! This picture of the grand staircase ( which we climbed!) gives you an idea of the opulence inside Kensington Palace.
Bubby:
My only quibble with Victoria the book is that it covers so little of her life. I’m hoping that Daisy Goodwin continues to write about this queen. She was an amazing woman who ruled, primarily alone, for 63 years. It’s just mind-boggling.
Sissy:
Agreed. Victoria by Daisy Goodwin is a fantastic novelization of Queen Victoria’s early life. I can recommend it to anyone interested in history and to anyone who just loves a great story. Her complex relationship with her mother and her courtship with Prince Albert are just two of the aspects of her life we found captivating. If you go by the amount of time we spent in the Kensington Palace Exhibit, there is so much more of her tale to be mined.
Bubby:
The best possible scenario for reading Victoria is to read it fast, then go spend the day at the exhibit. Unfortunately, that’s not possible for most of us, but we can dream, right? And if you do go, make sure to give yourself enough time so that the guards aren’t shooing you out. That was a little stressful. I don’t think I can put into words how much I enjoyed this book. Go read it! And eat a scone with double clotted cream while you’re at it!
Click HERE to buy Victoria by Daisy Goodwin
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