Kate Hubbard
Category: Nonfiction:
Biography
Synopsis: Hibbard
highlights the lives of some of Queen Victoria’s servants.
Date finished: 6
December 2014
Rating: ****
Comments:
It would be lying to say that I read this book because I
wanted to know about Queen Victoria’s servants. I read this book to learn about
Queen Victoria. Who her governess or lady-in-waiting or personal physician were
was kind of secondary. And frankly, any book about her servants will be
overshadowed by Queen Victoria herself. Overshadowed though she was a
diminutive little soul (under 5’ tall).
This book gives a good portrait of the Queen while focusing
on the staff members of the royal household. It really is win-win. Hubbard
focuses on a handful of the hundreds of servants in the palace at any one time.
We meet the royal children’s governess, and the Queen’s maid-of-honor, chaplain,
and personal physician, among others. Through the letters they wrote home
during their time on duty (the Queen’s ladies worked for a month at a time,
several times per year), we gain a deeper understanding of who the servants
are, but also who the Queen is. The servants are as loyal as the Queen is
demanding, as humorous as the Queen is literal, as practical as the Queen is
compulsive, as steady as the Queen is self-indulgent. As Hubbard says, “The
Queen, it seems, inspires devotion and exasperation in almost equal measure.”
(page 4)
While at times the book did lag a bit and was overall a bit
longer than it should have been, the writing was top notch, and I enjoyed it
quite a bit.
Would you recommend
this to a friend?
Yes. Anyone interested in Queen Victoria, royalty, or
servitude would like this one, I think.You might also enjoy:
Elizabeth the Queen
Sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteI have the new biography "Victoria: A Life" on my TBR pile, but I think I'll need more distance between these two Queen V. books.
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