Flora Fraser

To be honest, I wouldn't select Caroline of Brunswick to be my best friend. Still, the literal trial she faced from an adulterous husband who had the gall to accuse her of adultery after making her life miserable for over twenty years has enough sexist undertones to make me furious. Caroline and her husband George IV of Great Britain (perhaps better known as the Prince Regent) are both frustrating figures. Temperamentally unsuited to each other, the couple managed to not get along in a rather spectacular fashion. This biography of Queen Caroline chronicles the struggles of that unhappy marriage against the background of Europe during the Napoleonic wars. The era is fascinating and Caroline's story is but one of many interesting tales to emerge from the early nineteenth century. If you're intrigued as I am about this period, this is definitely a good book to read.… (meer)

This book, while it concentrates on the lives of the six daughters of King George III of England, does take in quite a bit of King George and his consort Queen Charlotte, as well as the princesses' brothers, including the future George IV. One problem, which Fraser largely battles successfully, is keeping the massive cast straight, inclusive of the fact that many personages have the same or similar names. The family tree in the front of the book certainly gets a workout! The biggest problem is that Fraser isn't really able to make the princesses interesting; you get the strong impression from the book that they led crashingly dull lives. Most of the drama seems to have come from various illnesses that they suffered, mixed here and there with largely failed romantic efforts. Fraser thus seems to have put an enormous amount of effort into a work that, in the final analysis, doesn't really shed a great deal of light, save for some of the dysfunctions of the Hanoverian royal family. Worth it if you're a fan of the royal family; not so much if you're not.… (meer)