Those of us who enjoy the history of the British monarchy have definitely heard of Queen Victoria. She is quite happy being queen with the help of her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who may be old enough to be her father but is the first person to take her seriously.ĭrawing on Victoria's diaries, which she first started reading when she was a student at Cambridge University, as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the best-selling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and writer of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen richly to life in this magnificent audiobook. She has very definite ideas about the kind of queen she wants to be, and the first thing is to choose her name.Įveryone keeps saying she is destined to marry her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but Victoria found him dull and priggish when they met three years ago. Surely she must rely on her mother and her venal advisor, Sir John Conroy, or her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who are all too eager to relieve her of the burdens of power.
The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman, who stands less than five feet tall, can rule the greatest nation in the world. Daisy Goodwin breathes new life into Victoria's story, and does so with sensitivity, verve, and wit." (Amanda Foreman, New York Times best-selling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire and A World on Fire, and 2016 chair of the Man Booker Prize)Įarly one morning, less than a month after her 18th birthday, Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died, and she is now queen of England. "Victoria is an absolutely captivating novel of youth, love, and the often painful transition from immaturity to adulthood. "The research is impeccable, the attention to details - from protocol to petticoats - perfect, and it brings the formidable figure of Victoria to sparkling life." ( Sunday Mirror)
Anna Wilson-Jones, who plays Lady Portman on the show, narrates. This program includes an interview with the author, Daisy Goodwin, who is the writer and creator of Victoria, the Masterpiece presentation on PBS.
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