A lonely young man attends the first World’s Fair – the Great Exhibition of 1851 – and meets a family who changes his life forever.
Follow the young Prince Fritz – later Friedrich III – of Prussia and his wife, Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Vicky, through their courtship and the joys and struggles of their first four years of marriage.
Fritz and Vicky dream of a peaceful united Germany, but Fritz’s uncle Karl has his own dreams of power…
MY THOUGHTS:
This is a thoroughly well researched story based on the life of Queen Victoria's eldest child, a talented, smart and artistic girl who was known as Vicky. Starting with her childhood, it moves to her meeting with her future husband, Fritz of Prussia, a shy young man who bore scars from his upbringing. He came to visit the British Royal Family during London's Great Exhibition of 1851. He was destined to become Friedrich III of Prussia, was nine years Vicky's senior, but hit it off with her instantly.
The tight community of royal families across the face of Britain and Europe made the world seem very small, but still huge for a teenager who had to move faraway to a foreign court full of corruption. Her sensitive husband had a bevy of frightening relatives, including his villainous and creepy Uncle Charles.
Lots of life anecdotes are woven into this long tale, plenty of skeletons in closets are revealed or hinted at and dirty linen aired. There's an unsettling theme regarding hypnotism that keeps us turning pages. The author's fascinating take on what might have happened during those early years of Vicky's marriage, especially regarding the conception of her second child, Princess Charlotte, is easy to be drawn into. And it's all tied together with undisputed truth, including Vicky's good relationship with her dad, Prince Albert, and the unfortunate nerve damage to the arm of her son and heir, Prince Wilhelm, during a traumatic birth.
I knew nothing of most of this, and now have great respect for Vicky, the English princess who became Crown Princess of Prussia. Her role was definitely not easy, since she had to bear the burden of much unpleasantness set in motion long before her birth. A bit of culture shock was the least of her problems. Vicky sure deserves to be the heroine of a book, in her brave attempt not to be a pawn, while she's trying to figure out exactly what's going on in the new court she must call home.
I was curious enough to google photos of Princess Vicky and her family, which enhanced my enjoyment of the story. For a girl who was said to be reasonably plain in her own era, yet still prettier than her mother (and whenever Queen Victoria appeared in the story, I couldn't help thinking of the grim old images we've surely all seen of her), I thought Vicky's photos were charming, and also touching in light of what I learned about her hard and challenging life.
I do recommend getting out a pen at the outset, to make a list of characters. There was such a complex mesh of royal relationships across Europe and a lot of people bearing the same name may elevate the confusion, especially at first. There's nothing the author could have done about this. It was just the way it was. But pushing through is well worth it.
Disclaimer: Thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review. All my opinions are genuine and honest.
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