Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #334590 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 631 pages

Customer Reviews

interesting and entertaining - the destiny of the four Hesse Princesses
I find it strange that ever so often reviews on "royal novels" starts with the line that one usually one does not read them but this very book is an exception.

Well, I have no hestiation to state that I read novels about royalty. I I do enjoy them, but I take them for what they are. Novels often give the authors much more freedom to bring across a picture of the personalities they write about without "having to proof" every line they are writing.

Queen Victoria had, in all, forty grandchildren spread throughout the courts of Europe. Victoria's grandchildren were united in respect, love and admiration for grandmother. They were the leading member of 'the royal mob', as she liked to call them.

Theresa Sherman ( aka Ilana Miller) takes up the story of four of Queen Victoria's grand-daughters : the princesses of Hesse, daughters of Princess Alice and her husband Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse: Viktoria, Elisabeth, Irene and Alix. Wisely the story is told from the perspective the eldest daughter Princess Viktoria, later Princess Louis of Battenberg and Marchioness of Milford Haven. She is the most steady fast of the sisters, quite a character.Elisabeth and Alix make grand Russian marriages - Elisabeth to Grand Duke Srege and Alix to Czar Nicolas II; Irene is rather the "mousy" princess, married to Prince Henry of Prussia, younger brother of the German Emperor.

So, here are the properly the most connected and quite powerful princesses (Russian Empress) of their time. Sherman writes with passion, knowledge and in an entertaining way. It is a delight to read. She uses the freedom of the medium "novel" to perfection. One learns a lot and is entertained. What does one want more from a novel. In short: great work!

A 'pearl' of a book.......
Well, I've just finished reading the book today ~ all 631 pages ~ and I must say I enjoyed it immensely! The central character of Victoria became very real to me as the book progressed, and every event in this long saga is portrayed with feeling and sympathy. At last I now have a clear grasp of the 'minor' characters ~ the Cecilias and Sophies for example ~ I was never sure who they were before reading this book! Something else I really liked ~ when Victoria says (on more than one occasion) ..'a photo was taken to record this...' Then I could go to one of my photo books and actually find the photo she is talking about and identify all the characters! The family group at Ernst and V. Melita's marriage in 1894 is a good example. Thank you to the author for writing the book, and to Amazon for stocking and promoting it.

A rare pearl of a book...
I truly enjoyed this book. Theresa Sherman's Victoria speaks how I imagined she really would have done. Princess Victoria of Hesse was Queen Victoria's favorite grandchild and her fictional memoirs are what makes up this book. Her life starting in Queen Victoria's golden era and ending in the aftermath of WW2 makes for a fascinating, heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking epic. We get a glimpse into the world of the 'Royal Mob', Queen Victoria's legendary family, and come to know her legion of cousins, aunts and uncles by their nicknames and come to love them as Victoria did. Victoria's humor and zest for life was legendary, and she really came alive for me in this book. Victoria's shining moment in this story is when her grandson, Prince Philip marries Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and when Victoria gives Philip a gift that represents Victoria's whole life. The ending actually brought tears to my eyes.