Today is Queen Victoria’s birthday. We think of her as round and grim, the symbol of empire and the Victorian obsession with mourning. In this excellent biography by Lucy Worsley, we get to know the queen better. Examining twenty-four separate days, from her parents’ wedding in 1818 to her death in 1901, this book is a fascinating insight.
Victoria’s life conveniently divides into three parts, reflected in this book: ‘A Naughty Daughter’, ‘The Good Wife’ and ‘The Widow of Windsor’. Most of the content is about her own feelings, her significant experiences and the relationships with her family. It’s necessarily selective (I’ve previously read Elizabeth Longford’s biography Queen Victoria, which was packed with a lot of information but was less readable). There is more of a focus on the early years of her reign and on her marriage to Albert than anything else. I didn’t mind that, because it’s the most interesting part of her life. Later chapters did tend to skip a decade, giving the impression of her life speeding up. Generally the book addresses the popular assumptions made about Victoria, with two exceptions: her legendary catchphrase ‘we are not amused’ and her apparent belief that lesbians didn’t exist. I would have liked Lucy Worsley to discuss these.
As with her biography of Jane Austen, the text is easy to read and, although referenced, is not too academic. It’s not quite as fun or personal as the biography of Austen, but I still enjoyed it.
Recommended if you want to know what it was like to be Queen Victoria!
First published in 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton. There are two sections of well-chosen colour plates.
I never knew there were books about the queen. I’ve read part of the biography of Jane.
Lucy Worsley is a really good writer, whatever she writes about she makes interesting 🙂
I’m sure she is.
Fab review! I love Lucy Worsley and I’d definitely like to read or listen to this one 🙂
Thanks! 🙂 Oh well if you’re a Worsley fan you will certainly enjoy this.
I am very curious about Queen Victoria so I will get this book and the other one you talked about! Thank you! Brilliant post! xx
If you’re interested in Queen Victoria this is definitely the book for you! And if you’re a Jane Austen fan then that book is so worth checking out. Thanks for reading 🙂
This sounds like something I’d be interesting in reading. Glad you enjoyed it. Great review, NS! Also on Jane Austen yup I like something that[s not too academic. Something too academic will hurt my brain LOL
Thanks Jee 😀 It was so interesting. I like the balance between academic and easy-read style.
Sounds good but… I think I’ll just watch the TV series!
I’m reading the Austen biography at the moment, it’s brilliant. I’ll be adding this to the list as well, great review 😊
I’m glad you love it – Worsley really makes her subjects fun to read about! And in that case, you’ll enjoy this book too. Thanks for reading 🙂
She really does, I struggle to remain engaged if something is too academic but as you say she really strikes the balance well 😊