The Young Victoria

By Alison Plowden

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This reprint of the 1981 classic is sure to please readers old and new. A short book written in a casual narrative style, this is an entertaining as well as informative record of Queen Victoria’s life from her birth to her marriage. Beginning with the crisis that led to her conception, it chronicles her rise from the rubble of a crumbling royal family, growing up constrained by an overbearing mother and increasingly burdened by the knowledge that the expectations of an empire rest on her success. Once free of the drama and dysfunction that hindered her, the young queen blossoms to meet those expectations – devoted, charming, exuberant to take on the challenges that face her. It’s a far cry from the dour black-clad matron of later years; as the writer illustrates so often with good humor, this Victoria was definitely amused. For anyone who enjoyed the recent movie of the same name and is curious to get a better picture of the history behind it, The Young Victoria is a great place to start.