VICTORIA

by Daisy Goodwin
 
It wasn’t until I got to the end of this book that I realized how it came to be.  My assumption was that Goodwin wrote the novel and then was asked to turn it into a mini-series.  Come to find out, she was writing the mini-series when someone suggested to her that she should novelize her scripts and sell that too.  I mention this because, if you have seen the BBC/PBS mini-series, you probably don’t need to bother reading the book.
 
I had not watched the mini-series, and found the book to be just the right type of British-celebrating fluff to fill the Crown-shaped void in my life!
 
Victoria tells the story of the young Queen Victoria just before she becomes queen and through the first few years of her reign, ending just before her marriage to Albert.  If you have seen the film Young Victoria, it covers much of the same ground.  But honestly, it’s a great story, so why not relive it?
 
Victoria has led an incredibly sheltered life, protected—smothered—by her mother and her mother’s lover/secretary.  When she becomes Queen she finds freedom in being the boss, but at only 19 years old, that freedom sometimes leads her to rash and scandalous action.  The story of her love affair with her Prime Minister is front and center, and there are plenty of lush descriptions of dresses and balls.
 
If you need a British fix on the beach, this is for you! (Lily)