"Narrator Lucy Paterson provides a charming portrayal of a mother, matron, minx, and monarch: Queen Victoria of England...Paterson's tone is bright and cheerful, and she keeps the historical details lively." — AudioFile Magazine
This program includes an introduction read by the author, as well as a bonus interview exclusive to the audiobook.
The story of the queen who defied convention and defined an era.
Perhaps one of the best known of the English monarchs, Queen Victoria forever shaped a chapter of English history, bequeathing her name to the Victorian age. In Queen Victoria, Lucy Worsley introduces this iconic woman in a new light. Going beyond an exploration of the Queen merely as a monarch, Worsley considers Victoria as a woman leading a truly extraordinary life in a unique time period. The book is structured around the various roles that Victoria inhabited— a daughter raised to wield power, a loving but tempestuous wife, a controlling mother, and a cunning widow—all while wearing the royal crown.
Far from a proto-feminist, Queen Victoria was socially conservative and never supported women’s rights. And yet, Victoria thwarted the strict rules of womanhood that defined the era to which she gave her name. She was passionate, selfish, and moody, boldly defying the will of politicians who sought to control her and emotionally controlling her family for decades. How did the woman who defined Victorian womanhood also manage to defy its conventions?
Drawing from the vast collection of Victoria’s correspondence and the rich documentation of her life, Worsley recreates twenty-four of the most important days in Victoria's life including her parents' wedding day, the day she met Albert, her own wedding day, the birth of her first child, a Windsor Christmas, the death of Prince Albert, and many more. Each day gives a glimpse into the identity of this powerful, difficult queen as a wife and widow, mother and matriarch, and above all, a woman of her time.
"Worsley gives us Victoria in all her infinite variety - queen and mother, matriach and minx. I loved it." — Daisy Goodwin, author of The American Heiress, The Fortune Hunter and Victoria: A Novel
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“Narrator Lucy Paterson provides a charming portrayal of a mother, matron, minx, and monarch…This audiobook is especially engaging because its format makes it more digestible than the lengthy biographies usually written about Queen Victoria. Paterson’s tone is bright and cheerful, and she keeps the historical details lively. She also captures the monarch’s frustrations and tragedies. Author Lucy Worsley gives the listener additional insight into the audiobook by narrating her short but informative introduction.”
— AudioFile
“The glory of this book is in the details and the specific moments that Worsley chooses to single out for mention and in her cheerful voice as she leads us by the hand to the next window of Victoria’s life calendar.”
— Times (London)“Insightful, sympathetic, and vividly written….Worsley’s command of the material and elegant writing style make this a must-read for anyone interested in the British monarchy.”
— Publishers WeeklyBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Lucy Worsley, PhD, is a historian, author, curator, and television presenter. She read ancient and modern history at New College, Oxford, and worked for English Heritage before becoming chief curator of historic royal palaces, based at Hampton Court. She also presents history programs for the BBC. Her bestselling books include A Very British Murder: The Curious Story of how Crime Was Turned into Art, If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home, and Courtiers: the Secret History of the Georgian Court, and Cavalier: The Story of a 17th-Century Playboy.
Jane Collingwood is an actress, voice-over artist, and audiobook narratior.