In the Shadow of a Queen by Heather B. Moore Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Length: (384) pages
Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook 
Genre: Historical Fiction, Inspirational Fiction

Synopsis

Based on the True Story of the Free-Spirited Daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise’s life is upended after her father’s untimely death. Captive to the queen’s overwhelming mourning, Louise is forbidden to leave her mother’s tight circle of control and is eventually relegated to the position of personal secretary to her mother―the same position each of her sisters held until they were married. Already an accomplished painter, Louise risks the queen’s wrath by exploring the art of sculpting, an activity viewed as unbefitting a woman. When Louise involves herself in the day’s political matters, including championing the career of a female doctor and communicating with suffragettes, the queen lays down the law to stop her and devotes her full energy to finding an acceptable match for her defiant daughter. Louise is considered the most beautiful and talented daughter of Queen Victoria but finding a match for the princess is no easy feat. Protocols are broken, and Louise exerts her own will as she tries to find an open-minded husband who will support her free spirit. In the Shadow of a Queen is the story of a battle of wills between two women: a daughter determined to forge her own life beyond the shadow of her mother, and a queen resolved to keep the Crown’s reputation unsullied no matter the cost.

My Thoughts

The novel opens when Louise is 12 years old and slowly progresses through her adolescent years to the years where a search for a suitable husband is undertaken and her subsequent marriage to a commoner.

We catch a glimpse of the relatively happy family life and relationship she has with her father before it drastically changes when he dies and the grief-stricken Queen Victoria retires from public life. Louise loves her siblings. She also loves her mother despite her demanding and often selfish behaviour. While Louise does mourn and miss her father, she is a young lady who wishes to experience life and champion causes that her mother believes are unsuitable for a princess. At times her mother's perpetual mourning frustrates Louise, but she learns to adapt, as do all the siblings. Her pursuit of art through sketching and her grand passion for sculpture allow some easing of restrictions imposed by her mother, which are relaxed even more when the hunt for a husband necessitates Louise attend various social engagements.

So much has been written about Queen Victoria and her relationship with her children that I was interested to see how the troublesome Princess Louise would be portrayed in this novel. With two strong-willed women with opposing views, I had expected more drama and clashes over Louise's choices, but this didn't occur. Queen Victoria was not as overbearing as I had thought her to be and seemed quite reasonable at times. I couldn't help but like Louise as she asserted her independence without causing a scene.

Most of the novel is devoted to Louise's adolescent years and contained events that I was familiar with, such as Bertie's entanglement with an actress, Queen Victoria blaming him for Prince Albert's death and her reliance on John Brown, the Scottish servant. The search for a suitable husband for Louise covered new territory and this was the part I enjoyed the most. Who would have thought the process would be so involved? Books on peerage were consulted and further enquiries made into the current lives of the prospective bridegrooms, with Bertie and Louise's married sisters putting forward their candidates and being outraged at Louise's final choice – a commoner but a duke, no less.

Overall, this was an enjoyable fictional biography of a young lady who emerged from her mother's shadow to live life on her terms despite the many restrictions she faced.

Where to Purchase

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Meet the Author

Heather B. Moore is a USA Today best-selling and award-winning author of more than seventy publications, including The Paper Daughters of Chinatown. She has lived on both the East and West Coasts of the United States, as well as Hawaii, and attended school abroad at the Cairo American Collage in Egypt and the Anglican School of Jerusalem in Israel. She loves to learn about history and is passionate about historical research.

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