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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE QUEEN WHO GAVE HER NAME TO AN ERA..., January 22, 2003
This is the third volume in Jean Plaidy's well-written "Queens of England" series of books. In it, the author details the life and reign of Queen Victoria, from her rise as a young, sheltered princess to a Queen who would give her name to an era. For over sixty years, Victoria ruled over England, longer than any monarch before her or since. As in all the books in the "Queens of England" series, it is written in a first person narrative, creating an intimacy of style that makes the book all the more compelling and immensely readable. Replete with fascinating period detail, political machinations, public personages, and historical events that were a part of Queen Victoria's life, the author builds a sympathetic, three dimensional portrait of a woman and queen. The author recounts the early years of Victoria and her ascension to the throne, firmly rooting the house of Hanover in English history. She takes the reader through the Queen's marriage to Prince Albert from their early innocent, halcyon days to the later, more troubled ones that would give fruit to a mature and abiding love that would span a lifetime. The book recounts the births of their numerous children, and the joys and sorrows that they would bring Victoria. The premature death of her husband at the age of forty, however, would mark Victoria for the remainder of her long life. The often fractious relationships Victoria would have with some of her Prime Ministers is recounted, as are the one ones that were more harmonious. Familial relationships, scandals, and intrigues would also have their impact, not just on Victoria's immediate family, but on the monarchy and the world, as well. Such is the lot of a royal family, and Victoria's was no different. World events and their effect on the British Empire also pepper this book, and at the center of it all was the indomitable Queen Victoria, a monarch for the ages. This is a wonderful book that those with a penchant for historical fiction will, no doubt, enjoy. Ms. Plaidy is a master storyteller, seamlessly weaving a tapestry of events and personalities that make this book one to be savored.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Characterization of Victoria, But Too Insular, April 18, 2007
This review is from: Victoria Victorious: The Story of Queen Victoria (Paperback)
An unfortunate thing about this book is its alliterative but undescriptive title. It suggests that Victoria triumphs over adversity in some way, and at least as far as this book goes, she doesn't. She's not victorious or defeated; she simply lives a long, full life.
Plaidy succeeds in making Victoria a complex character. She's quite often stubborn, selfish, and insular, yet the reader rather likes her at the same time for her tenacity and for her spirit. These qualities are most apparent in the first half of the novel, where Victoria has to deal with her interfering mother and her beloved but priggish husband.
The focus of this novel is on Victoria's relationships with others, not the events of the day, and this insularity--heightened by the first person narration--was to me the great defect in this novel. Though major events--the Chartist movement, the Crimean War, and so forth--are mentioned, there's little sense of how they came about or what Victoria thought of them. We hear from Victoria which prime ministers she likes and doesn't like, and we're told which party they represent, but there's little real sense of the politics of the day. There's also very little sense of the enormous changes that were taking place; no one seems to have invited Victoria to the Industrial Revolution. When toward the end of the novel, someone mentions a telegraph, I was frankly surprised, for up to then there'd been no indication whatsoever of such technology. Indeed, I don't think there's even mention of the railways here.
All in all, this is a pleasant read if you're interested in Victoria's domestic life, but those who are looking for something deeper will likely be disappointed.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great historical read, July 2, 2005
This review is from: Victoria Victorious: The Story of Queen Victoria (Paperback)
Plaidy certainly does her job with this book, and does not disappoint: this is indeed the dramatic and engrossing historical novel which the cover seems to promise. Personally, I found myself reading hundreds of pages at a time, and ended up reading most of the book in just three (extremely long) sittings.
However, and this in no way detracts from the quality of the book, I found myself dwelling over the portrayal of Queen Victoria more than once. As a child, she becomes indignant and stubborn after rising above her overbearing mother to become queen, and seems disinclined to submit to anyone. However, after her marriage to her husband, her manner seems to change completely- she eventually succumbs to his every whim to please him, and accepts fault for their arguments because she was not properly "tamed" in childhood. For me, at least, these changes came about all too quickly, and seemed unnatural. Certainly some calmness can be attributed to growing up, but it was as if Victoria traveled from one end of the spectrum to another. However, Victoria's demonstrative nature (and fickleness with her affections) remains with her throughout the book, and was one of the things that I most enjoyed about her character- especially when people whom she judged harshly and mocked without knowing became her closest advisers.
This was the first of Plaidy's books that I have read, and overall, I loved it. I would have given it five stars, but I am a harsh judge and reserve that for my VERY favorites. I also admired how Plaidy was able to encorporate history into the novel- and yet, as a great amount of information is included in the last section of the book, in Victoria's old age when some of the other characters are no longer close to her or living, the book does change somewhat surprisingly- that is, going from a book focused entirely on Victoria's personal life to including political events and affairs of the reigning families. However, Plaidy's portrayal of an aging queen is extremely believable, and it makes sense for her areas of focus to change as she is a mother of nine and grandmother of many, no longer a self-centered adolescent.
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