Queen Victoria : twenty-four days that changed her life

Title:

Author:

Worsley, Lucy, author.

Personal Author:

Worsley, Lucy, author.

ISBN:

9781250201423

Physical Description:

421 pages : illustrations, portraits, genealogical table ; 25 cm

Contents:

PART ONE: A NAUGHTY DAUGHTER. Double wedding: Kew Palace, 11 July 1818 ; Birth: Kensington Palace, 24 May 1819 ; Wet feet: Sidmouth, 23 January 1820 ; 'I will be good': Kensington Palace, 11 March 1830 ; The three missing weeks: Ramsgate, October 1835 ; Albert: Kensington Palace, 18 May 1836 ; Accession: Kensington Palace, 20 June 1837 ; Coronation: Buckingham Palace, 28 June 1838 ; In Lady Flora's bedchamber: Buckingham Palace, 27 June 1839 -- PART TWO: THE GOOD WIFE. The proposal: Windsor Castle, 10-15 October 1839 ; Wedding day: three palaces, 10 February 1840 ; 'Oh Madam it is a princess': Buckingham Palace, 21 November 1840 ; Christmas at Windsor: 25 December 1850 ; A Maharaja on the Isle of Wight: 21-24 August 1854 ; Miss Nightingale at Balmoral: 21 September 1856 ; A night with Nellie: 6 September 1861 ; The Blue Room: Windsor Castle, 14 December 1861 ; PART THREE: THE WIDOW OF WINDSOR. 'Sewer-poison': Sandringham, 13 December 1871 ; Lunch with Disraeli: Hughenden Manor, 15 December 1877 ; John Brown's legs: 6 March 1884 ; Baby gets married: Usborne House, 23 July 1885 ; Munshi-mania: Excelsior Hotel Regina, French Riviera, 4 April 1897 ; Apotheosis: London, 22 June 1897 ; Deathbed: Osborne, 23 January 1901.

Abstract:

"A passionate princess, an astute and clever queen, and a cunning widow, Victoria played many roles throughout her life. In [this book], Lucy Worsley introduces her as a woman leading a truly extraordinary life in a unique time period. Queen Victoria simultaneously managed to define a socially conservative vision of Victorian womanhood, while also defying its conventions. Beneath her exterior image of traditional daughter, wife, and widow, she was a strong-willed and masterful politician. Drawing from the vast collection of Victoria's correspondence and the rich documentation of her life, Worsley recreates twenty-four of the most important days in Victoria's life. Each day gives a glimpse into the identity of this powerful, difficult queen and the contradictions that defined her. [This] is an intimate introduction to one of Britain's most iconic rulers as a wife and widow, mother and matriarch, and above all, a woman of her time."--Dust jacket.

Recreates twenty-four of the most important days in Queen Victoria's life to explore her myriad roles as they reflected her defiance of gender conventions and defining position in a time of extraordinary change and political resistance.

Personal Subject:

Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901.

Subject Term:

Queens -- Great Britain -- Biography.

Geographic Term:

Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Belmont	Book	941.08 V645 XW	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	941.08 V645 XW	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The story of the queen who defied convention and defined an era

A passionate princess, an astute and clever queen, and a cunning widow, Victoria played many roles throughout her life. In Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life, Lucy Worsley introduces her as a woman leading a truly extraordinary life in a unique time period. Queen Victoria simultaneously managed to define a socially conservative vision of Victorian womanhood, while also defying its conventions. Beneath her exterior image of traditional daughter, wife, and widow, she was a strong-willed and masterful politician.

Drawing from the vast collection of Victoria's correspondence and the rich documentation of her life, Worsley recreates twenty-four of the most important days in Victoria's life. Each day gives a glimpse into the identity of this powerful, difficult queen and the contradictions that defined her. Queen Victoria is an intimate introduction to one of Britain's most iconic rulers as a wife and widow, mother and matriarch, and above all, a woman of her time.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

The Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces in England shares her unique access to the quotidian history of English royals to treat us to another delightful story from the inside.Worsley (Jane Austen at Home, 2017, etc.) is helped in this instance by Victoria's penchant for saving outfits she wore at important milestones, right down to the shoes, and the author provides significant insight into her attitude to the throne. At first, she was a headstrong young woman trying to break away from the influence of her mother and John Conroy. Her father's friend and servant, Conroy devised a system that he and Victoria's mother used to control all aspects of her life. It was a system designed to ensure their power when she ascended the throne, whether as regents or advisers. Luckily, Victoria was sufficiently headstrong to reject them both. As queen, she relied on Lord Melbourne, a father figure, for advice, and she exhibited her strong emotional intelligence. After her marriage to Albert, she fell under his orderly, dispassionate intellect; luckily, she retained the empathy that made her beloved. Still, he often infantilized her, downplaying her abilities. As a mother, Victoria came up short, as Worsley amply shows. She didn't enjoy her children except that they made Albert happy. She was tyrannical and never nursed them, since that would have made her feel "like a cow or a dog." Albert's influence was reflected in her thinking that women were inferior to men and therefore had no right to vote. She held him up as the unattainable perfection that none of her children would ever attain. Her grief at Albert's death and interminable mourning are legendary, but it also made her realize that no one could have mastery over her. John Brown caused no end of consternation, but it was he who brought her back to the people. She made few public appearances, but photographs and two books she wrote about Albert took the place of her presence.An utterly enjoyable account of Victoria's familial relationships. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.