The Queen Victoria Tribute: Victoria Rebels

Queen Victoria
of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Emily Blunt & Rupert Friend as Victoria & Albert

 A few weeks ago, I realized that I knew surprisingly little about Queen Victoria. That fact was unacceptable mainly because I claim to be all sorts of mad for British history/culture. My image of Queen Victoria has mainly been constructed via film, which means that in my mind, Queen Victoria bears a shocking resemblance to the actress Emily Blunt. Though The Young Victoria is one my favorite films, I was concerned that my mind had been improperly informed with regards to historical events and personages. So I headed to the library to set the record straight.

Luckily, I found a novel by one of my favorite authors: Carolyn Meyer. And now you know my guilty pleasure: historical fiction. The reason Carolyn Meyer has become one of my favorite authors is purely based on her massive output of historical fiction. I read her book Beware, Princess Elizabeth about Queen Elizabeth I when I was 11 years old or so and then I was hooked. I read her whole series on the Tudors and then historical fiction became my official favorite genre.

Disclaimer: Carolyn Meyer's novels are generally written for a younger audience which can be a little annoying, but also makes for a quick read.  

Meyer's Victoria Rebels was heavily influenced by Queen Victoria's personal journals, so the novel includes a great sense of Victoria's personality. It was a fun read and gave me the history fix I was needing. Also, it made me happy to know that most of the events depicted in The Young Victoria actually occurred (the prenuptial romantic bit was only slightly "Hollywoodized"). The novel encapsulates roughly the same time period as the film, so there was no post-Albert depression phase (which was slightly disappointing). However, the novel made me appreciate Queen Victoria more and I feel that it was important to become acquainted with how she grew into her role as the Queen of England.

So get your nerd on and read some historical fiction.

-KB

Rating: 3/5

P.S. Lytton Strachey's biography of Queen Victoria is
supposedly the biography to end all biographies, so I
hope to read that soon. But if you get to it before I
do, let me know what you thought!