I wish I had read this book back when I was in high school and struggling with AP European History! Technically this is a novel, but it is based in fact. Reading the story of Queen Victoria's oldest child, Princess Vicky, and her life as the wife of Crown Prince Fritz of Prussia (later Kaiser Frederick III) helped this American understand so many things about Europe better: why there are/were so many German princes and dukes, just where Prussia is/was, where Bavaria is/was, the conflicts that led to the Franco-Prussian War that led to WWI that led to WWII, and Otto Von Bismark's role in all of it - even what it means to have a "von" in the middle of your name! It also showed Vicky's impact on many of these things through her husband and her eldest son, Kaiser Wilhelm II.

The book did start out kind of slow, with Vicky's childhood as the daughter of Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, one of the countries/prefectures that later united under Prussia to become Germany. The book paints the relationship between Vicky and her father as very close - she, her father's favorite of all his and the Queen's children; her father, meanwhile, could do no wrong in Vicky's eyes, setting perhaps an impossible standard for all other men to meet. The Queen, though, is portrayed as being a remote and self-centered mother.

Once Vicky marries and moves to Prussia with her husband (known as Fritz), I found the book much more compelling. She and Fritz had a true love match, just like her parents, Victoria and Albert. However, Vicky was a bit of a scholar and had ambitions to make Prussia/Germany more like England in terms of the populace having representation in parliament, voting rights, etc. And since she did not have complete control of the country as her mother did of England, her road was much more rocky. Since she so adored and admired her father, she wanted to emulate him in terms of continuous study and keeping busy with enriching projects. She saw her role as that of continuous improvement of herself and her adopted country of Prussia, and abhorred gossip or just sitting around, which many of the then royals seemed to want her to do. She did not want to be just another pretty face!

On top of this, her first child, Wilhelm (eventually Kaiser Wilhelm II), was born with a disability. I also have a child with a disability, and all of the parts that discussed her worries about him really hit home with me. By all accounts, the role that a united Germany played in Europe after the Franco-Prussian war was somewhat precarious, since it sat between two former enemies, with France on one side and Russia on the other. It was held together by the strength and cunning of Otto von Bismark, who, himself, needed to be held in check by a strong leader. The book tries to make the point that because Vicky was busy worrying about Wilhelm's weaknesses, she perhaps didn't encourage his strengths to the point where - once he became Kaiser - he could cope with the delicate balance that Bismark orchestrated. Once it fell, the domino effect then started WWI which then started WWII, and so on. I do think it's extreme, however, to blame "cold mothering," for lack of a better term, for WWII, which seems to be the inference of the author.

All in all, I really enjoyed this look into history from a personal viewpoint and from a mother's viewpoint. Obviously, since this is a novel, conversations and feelings, etc., are imagined or made up entirely - but the tone of them "feels" real, and you feel like you are in the palace or the carriage or on the train or at the banquets, etc., with the characters, rather than reading out of a textbook. Perhaps history classes could take heed and incorporate approaches that included more reading like this, hmm?

I also really liked that there were several words in this book that I actually had to stop and look up the meaning of in a dictionary! I read about a book a week, along with multiple periodicals/articles, and my reading tastes stray widely across many levels and topics, and I write every day. I also have a Master's Degree - and I include that only to let you, as a future reader, know what my experience level with the written word is. This book was not difficult to read in terms of being way over my head, but the fact that it included words I did not know surprised and delighted me. I always like to increase my vocabulary!!

So, if you want to increase your knowledge of the political atmosphere in Europe surrounding the Franco-Prussian War, WWI, and WWII; the formation of modern Germany and what led up to it; AND learn about the early life of Queen Victoria's oldest daughter, all while increasing your vocabulary and getting a glimpse into what it's like to be the mother of a child with a disability, I would definitely recommend this book!!

Thank you to the author, William Morris and Eidlewiess for a free Advanced Reader's Copy and the opportunity to read and review it. All opinions in this review are my own and offered independently, without consideration of reimbursement. ( )

I knew the general outlines of the life of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, but this novel brought them to life and reminded me that she was also the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Called Vicky throughout the book, she was raised in England and married the heir to the Prussian throne at a young age. Vicky could be demanding and this comes out in her treatment of her oldest son, Wilhelm, whose complicated birth causes permanent damage to one of his arms. The medical treatments attempted range from ineffectual to cringeworthy and together with the uncompromising demands Vicky placed on him, I could start to see how Wilhelm became the man he was. This book made for interesting reading, although it could be a little slow at times. I would definitely recommend it for those interested in exploring 19th-century Europe through historical fiction. ( )