Review: Victoria Victorious by Jean Plaidy

Victoria Victorious by Jean Plaidy

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Setting: It’s 1837 and Queen Victoria has just inherited the English throne from her Uncle William and for the first time in her life she feels a since of freedom.
  

Synopsis: Ever since Victoria was a little girl she was constantly watched and never allowed to be a lone for a second. Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, saw Victoria as her ticket to becoming the Regent of England and ruling until Victoria became of age to rule England herself. Victoria felt like a prisoner in her Kensington Palace where her mother dictated her life. Everything grew dark when Victoria’s mother brought in Sir John Conroy to take control of the household. Victoria did not trust him at all. She knew Sir John had motives of his own and wanted to rule England through her mother if she became Regent. Victoria was a very perceptive child and she knew both her mother and Sir John did not have her best interests at heart.

Once Victoria became Queen of England she rid herself from both her mother’s and Sir John’s retched grasp. She became very fond of her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, a Liberal for the Whig party. She called him Lord M out of endearment. Her reign as Queen did not start off on the right foot. It seems she became too fond of Lord M, therefore, she always trusted his advice. This led to her over throwing her own government over a disagreement about her ladies maids. The people were so outraged that a man pulled out a pistol and aimed for Queen Victoria while she was riding in her carriage one day. Fortunately the madman missed.

Things turned around for the better once she met the dashing Prince Albert of Sacs-Coburg Germany. Prince Albert was Victoria’s cousin and through the coercion of her Uncle Leopold they fell in love.  The people of England did not like Albert because he was a German and looked to feminine, but of course Victoria did not care what the people thought of him. She knew he was perfect for her and they soon were married and had a grand total of nine children together. 

Review: Victoria Victorious by Jean Plaidy is the eleventh novel in Plaidy’s Queens of England series. It’s told in Victoria’s point of view, which makes it sort of her memoir. I did enjoy this book to a point. However, I found it a bit dry in some parts. Mainly, I found the political aspect of this book to be boring. 

What I really enjoyed most about the book was getting to know young Victoria as the Princess living under her mother’s rule in the Kensington Palace. Victoria was so quick witted as a child and she really pulled at everyone’s heart strings. You just couldn’t help but sympathize with her. She was kept in pretty much a prison and hardly ever allowed to visit her very own Uncle the King of England who became very fond of little Vicky. In her entire life there were seven attempts at her life and she tried very hard to not let it bother her. I also enjoyed the courting of young Prince Albert and Victoria. Albert was truly perfect. He put up with Victoria’s “storms” of anger and did not let it affect their marriage. 

Although this is not my favorite Plaidy novel I did enjoy it. Queen Victoria was truly a strong woman and was the longest reigning British Queen. She reigned for sixty years. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the ups and downs of Victoria’s life. She really was an inspiration.