⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟
I have not read a historical fiction of royalty in quite some time. I was intrigued when I was offered a copy of the book for review. I knew next to nothing about Queen Victoria and even less about her children, so this was going to be totally new to me.The story starts in 1861 in England. Princess Louise is 12 years old at the beginning of the story, each chapter has a little blurb in the form of a letter to and from the royalty. Louise was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Albert. She and her sibling’s upbringing were strict with education with the emphasis on cooking, farming, household tasks, and carpentry, which the latter I found kind of odd. She was very artistic from a young age, but because she was a royal, pursuing the arts was not considered. She was allowed to attend an art school thanks to her mother.The Queen was determined to carry her children off to the proper people. There was a list of royals to choose from but Louise would have none of them. She found little time for the niceties of finding a suitor. It was difficult to find the perfect suitor for her, she insisted that the husbands that she choose would have to live in England, so that left a lot of the royal men not suitable, which was fine in Louise’s mind.Louise was the unofficial secretary to Queen Victoria and that was a job she was well suited to. Prince Albert died and the Queen and all of the family went into deep mourning, so this left a lot of time to pursue her love of art., becoming a prolific sculptor and artist. Louise was best known for her philanthropic endeavors, and she received many honors for her works.Princess Louise did meet and fall in love with John Campbell, telling her mother that she had no desire to marry a prince and she wanted to marry John. He was heir to the Dukedom of Argyll, Marquess of Lorne. Their marriage was a happy one for a time, then they drifted apart for a while but they persevered and the marriage continues.I learned a lot about Louise, Queen Victoria, whom I always thought of as a fussy old woman but that could not be further from the truth. She just wanted what was best for her family and her kingdom. She had been deeply in love with Prince Albert and that love was passed down to her children.I think that the author did a tremendous job in the research and writing, depicting the Queen and her children as a great family, notwithstanding issues, every family has that, even royalty.I really enjoyed this book, I will be reading more by Heather B. Moore.