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Title details for Victoria's Daughters by Jerrold M. Packard - Available

Victoria's Daughters

by Jerrold M. Packard
Heather Wilds
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
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 children 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.
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. Jerrold M. Packard provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as daughters of their time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 21, 2017

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781541420823
      • File size: 367012 KB
      • Duration: 12:44:36

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 28, 1998
      Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children--five of them daughters--and 40 grandchildren. In this engaging group biography, Packard (Farewell in Splendor) writes about scores of lives and several generations of this fecund couple's progeny--which is why the book is best devoured in small bites and why the comprehensive list of "Principal Characters" is indispensable. As a family, the V&As make for a story as dramatic as any fictional saga, but Packard also shows real sympathy and affection for these royal individuals, including the vastly complicated Queen Victoria herself. Packard combed the daily correspondence the sovereign required of her eldest daughter, Vicky, as well as letters, journals, memoirs and biographies of the other principals involved. In addition, his loving (or disparaging) descriptions of the five daughters' residences in London, Argyll, Berlin, Darmstadt and Ottowa reflect his eager research. History was no mere backdrop to these lives: Vicky's eldest child, Willy, grew up to become Kaiser Wilhelm II, to her great despair, and Alice's daughter Alexandra married Tsar Nicholas II. Packard's narrative is accessible, unpretentious and solidly written (except for one particularly bad pun on a widow's peak). He manages to treat historical events succinctly while emphasizing the princesses' individual lives and family relationships, their talents in music and art, their patronage of schools and hospitals and their pioneering advocacy of women's education and employment.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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