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Title: Becoming Victoria by Lynne Vallone ISBN: 0-300-08950-3 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 29 May, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting but not terribly exciting
Comment: I think the thing I found most interesting about this book was the total screwiness of Victoria's mother, the Dutchess of Kent. I admit that the Dutchess was in kind of a rough spot: She was raising a monarch after all, and yet wanted to raise her to within the standards of ladylike behaviour. Can't have her going around refering to herself with male terminology like Queen Elizabeth I did, y'know.
But in the process, the thing the Dutchess seemed to always have her eye on was the possibility of a Regency. She *wanted* to be Regent. How screwed up do you have to be to *want* to be Regent? All the responsibility, none of the adoring crowds. Yuck!
So she was torn between the necessity of producing in Victoria a princess who could eventually take the throne (because if she failed in providing an appropriate education and upbringing the King had made it pretty clear that he *would* ensure Victoria received same, even if it meant removing her from her mother's tender care) while wanting to keep her daughter from being *able* to take the throne at 18 (there was a possibility of a regency until she reached 21), all the while hoping that King George would hurry up and die already. Which may in part be the author's spin on things, but the good Dutchess did *repeatedly* write about the possibility of a regency until Victoria was 21 even *after* Victoria was declared competent to take the throne when she reached majority at 18 (said declaration taking place several years ahead of time), which kind of points to having some serious hopes caught up in that regency.
Victoria herself just seems like a kid caught in the middle and kept from having much fun. She got to read a lot of "improving" books, which are those sort of kids books that beat you over the head with the idea that you should always do what Mommy tells you and never, ever, talk to strangers and aren't a lot of fun, and the rest of her childhood really does fit with that choice in reading material.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating Princess
Comment: Princesses have become an item of interest in the past few years. Possibly they always have been, but series such as The Royal Diaries--fictional diaries by true life princesses-- are filling library and bookstore shelves.
In this aristocratic climate, Becoming Victoria by Lynne Vallone stands out. Becoming Victoria examines the girlhood/teenagehood of the young woman who became Queen Victoria and consequently, the enduring symbol of an era. Ms Vallone has undertaken the remarkable task of examining how Victoria was reared, comparing her upbringing to the upbringing of contemporaries (not princesses), chronicling Victoria's relationship with her mother and illustrating the gap between the portrayal of Victoria's youth, both at the time and retrospectively, and how Victoria herself truly felt and acted.
The reader leaves this book convinced that truth is indeed stranger than fiction or at least as strange and as remarkable. Although Becoming Victoria is not necessarily geared towards teens (and is more expositive than books such as The Royal Diaries), the insight into a princess' curriculum, familial relationships, day-to-day activities should fascinate the readership that delves into Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries and Gail Levine's The Princess Tales.
Becoming Victoria ends, rather disappointingly, at Victoria's ascension to the throne. This is, however, in accordance with the task set by the author. Victoria the child and teenager is Ms Vallone's focus, and she ends once her subject passes into a different stage. Consequently, the reader's appetite is whet to do further study on a most fascinating woman and queen.
Recommendation: The price is not too bad. It is a beautifully bound book and may be worth buying new. However, if your interest is in the content, not the appearance, try used.
Rating: 3
Summary: Informative, but dull.
Comment: This work was full of interesting facts, but was written more like a college text book. It paints a picture of a very charming child and gives the reader insight into the influences in Victoria's early life and the early formation of her character as she grew into the roll of Queen Mother. The facts are nice, the subject is great, but the text book feel is dull and dry.
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Title: Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals by Christopher Hibbert ISBN: 0750923490 Publisher: Sutton Publishing Pub. Date: 01 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Queen Victoria at Home by Michael De-La-Noy, Michael De-LA Noy ISBN: 0786711787 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Queen Victoria: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert ISBN: 0306810859 Publisher: Da Capo Press Pub. Date: 27 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: Queen Victoria's Family: A Century of Photographs 1840-1940 by Charlotte Zeepvat ISBN: 0750930594 Publisher: Sutton Publishing Pub. Date: 01 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Victoria's Daughters by Jerrold Packard ISBN: 0312244967 Publisher: Griffin Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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