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Search - Victoria's Daughters

Victoria's Daughters
Author: Jerrold M. Packard

The story of five women who shared one of the most extraordinary and privileged sisterhoods of all time. — Vicky, Alice, Helena, and Beatrice were historically unique sisters, born to a sovereign who ruled over a quarter of the earth's people and who gave her name to an era: Queen Victoria. Two of these princesses would themselves produce childre... more »n of immense consequence. All five would curiously come to share many of the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by nineteenth-century women of less-exulted class.

Victoria and Albert's precocious firstborn child, Vicky, wed a Prussian prince in a political match her high-minded father hoped would bring about a more liberal Anglo-German order. That vision met with disaster when Vicky's son Wilhelm-- to be known as Kaiser Wilhelm-- turned against both England and his mother, keeping her out of the public eye for the rest of her life. Gentle, quiet Alice had a happier marriage, one that produced Alexandra, later to become Tsarina of Russia, and yet another Victoria, whose union with a Battenberg prince was to found the present Mountbatten clan. However, she suffered from melancholia and died at age thirty-five of what appears to have been a deliberate, grief-fueled exposure to the diphtheria germs that had carried away her youngest daughter. Middle child Helena struggled against obesity and drug addition but was to have lasting effect as Albert's literary executor. By contrast, her glittering and at times scandalous sister Louise, the most beautiful of the five siblings, escaped the claustrophobic stodginess of the European royal courts by marrying a handsome Scottish commoner, who became governor general of Canada, and eventually settled into artistic salon life as a respected sculptor. And as the baby of the royal brood of nine, rebelling only briefly to forge a short-lived marriage, Beatrice lived under the thumb of her mother as a kind of personal secretary until the queen's death.

Principally researched at the houses and palaces of its five subjects in London, Scotland, Berlin, Darmstadt, and Ottawa-- and entertainingly written by an experienced biographer whose last book concerned Victoria's final days-- Victoria's Daughters closely examines a generation of royal women who were dominated by their mother, married off as much for political advantage as for love, and finally passed over entirely with the accession of their brother Bertie to the throne. Packard provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as daughters of their time.

ISBN-13: 9780312195625
ISBN-10: 0312195621
Publication Date: 10/15/1998
Pages: 384
Rating:

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.

4.3 stars, based on 5 ratings

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Marla R. (skeetergirl) - , reviewed Victoria's Daughters on 2/9/2009 + 9 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I really enjoyed this book. The autor doesn't get bogged down as so many biographers seem to do. I learned a lot about Victoria's daughters...along with a lot of fascinating trivia. If a biography can be said to keep you turning pages, this one does. If you are interested in this period in history, I definitely recommend it.

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Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Historical >> Europe >> Great Britain >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Leaders & Notable People >> Royalty >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Leaders & Notable People >> Royalty >> Victoria
Biographies & Memoirs >> Specific Groups >> Women
History >> Europe >> England >> General
History >> Europe >> England >> 19th Century

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