Title: My Name is Victoria
Author: Lucy Worsley
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: May 8, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
By turns thrilling, dramatic, and touching, this is the story of Queen Victoria’s childhood as you’ve never heard it before.
Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Her father is Sir John Conroy, confidant and financial advisor to Victoria’s mother, and he has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess that he calls the Kensington System. It governs Princess Victoria’s behavior and keeps her locked away from the world. Sir John says it’s for the princess’s safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it’s to keep her lonely and unhappy. Torn between loyalty to her father and her growing friendship with the willful and passionate princess, Miss V has a decision to make: continue in silence or speak out. In an engaging, immersive tale, Lucy Worsley spins one of England’s best-known periods into a fresh and surprising story that will delight both young readers of historical fiction and fans of the television show featuring Victoria.
Review:
When I was in London last year, I found this book in the bookstore. I love Queen Victoria, so I was intrigued by this book. Then, when I found out it was being published in North America, I was so excited to get a review copy!
This book was great. I could imagine so many of the places described. Kensington Palace was my favourite attraction in London. I especially loved the room that had a plaque that marked the birth of Princess Victoria in that room! They also went to Windsor castle in this story, which has been all over the news because of Harry and Meghan’s wedding.
Victoria is such an interesting character in this story. She doesn’t fit the image of Queen Victoria at all. I have read other books about her, and as Queen she was fantastic. She wanted to help her people. But in this story, she often behaved like a spoiled little girl. This kept me reading because I was curious to see how she would grow as a character.
There were some twists through the story, especially pertaining to the relationships between characters. I always find that I am googling things when I read historical fiction to see what is real and what is fiction. I had to look up some facts, but I could tell that there was some liberty taken with the story. One thing that I didn’t realize was that Sir John had a wife and family. He has been in other stories I’ve read, but they didn’t focus on his family outside of Kensington, unlike this one which was narrated by his daughter.
I loved this book! Have you read this book? What did you think?
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