Scan barcode
A review by oliviamunrow
Victoria Victorious: The Story of Queen Victoria by Jean Plaidy
2.0
What a frustrating book!
When Victoria Victorious opens, the future Queen Victoria is a young girl living firmly under the thumb of her power-hungry mother and the manipulative John Conroy. The book promises to liberate Victoria.
And so it does-- briefly. Before long she's married to Albert, who is every bit as firm and controlling as her mother once was! I gather that it's probably rather historically accurate, but it makes for a very frustrating read, as Victoria simpers and is convinced that she is always incorrect and Albert a saint. The only doubt she shows is towards the end, and it's slyly done, but not enough to make the frustration of the rest of the book disappear.
In short: Victoria's story is perhaps too frustrating for an accurate depiction to also be a great novel of either the romantic or bildungsroman type.
When Victoria Victorious opens, the future Queen Victoria is a young girl living firmly under the thumb of her power-hungry mother and the manipulative John Conroy. The book promises to liberate Victoria.
And so it does-- briefly. Before long she's married to Albert, who is every bit as firm and controlling as her mother once was! I gather that it's probably rather historically accurate, but it makes for a very frustrating read, as Victoria simpers and is convinced that she is always incorrect and Albert a saint. The only doubt she shows is towards the end, and it's slyly done, but not enough to make the frustration of the rest of the book disappear.
In short: Victoria's story is perhaps too frustrating for an accurate depiction to also be a great novel of either the romantic or bildungsroman type.