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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000003383803 | PZ4 H278 1994 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Author Notes
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born in London in 1948. She attended the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy. She wrote her first novel while in college and won the Young Writers' Award for The Waiting Game in 1972, but did not become a full-time writer until 1979 with the start of the Morland Dynasty series. In 1993, she won the RNA Novel of the Year Award for Emily, the third volume of the Kirov Trilogy. She also writes the Bill Slider Mystery series and under the pen names Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews 2
Booklist Review
Harrod-Eagles pens a novel based on Queen Victoria that presents her in a quite different light than the popular conception of a staid and conservative matriarch. The time is 1900, and Victoria begins with a look back at a childhood full of the stresses of royal life. Instinctively, young Victoria wants to cavort, but she's constantly being tutored in the dignity of her position. Her home at Kensington Palace is a "royal asylum" of mean and tragic relatives, and she sees firsthand the political intrigues and back stabbing that will become a daily distraction when she ascends the throne. Yet the political history of her long reign is more of a backdrop. The real focus is Victoria the person, a strong-willed and passionate woman. Yes, passionate. For example, her initial attraction to her husband, Albert, is quite sexual, and this and all other emotions are frankly revealed. A surprising picture of one of history's most powerful women that takes liberties, to be sure. --Brian McCombie
Library Journal Review
Harrod-Eagles (Grave Music, LJ 3/1/95), who also writes as Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennett, has written 40-plus titles in the fields of romance and mystery. Her latest effort is a fictionalized autobiography of Queen Victoria. The fictional Victoria, writing during her last year, looks back to her childhood and onward to the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Each chapter also includes a bit about her present, largely tidbits about children, grandchildren, and contemporary political situations. The real Victoria was such a prolific letter and journal writer that much exists even today about her personal life. Unfortunately, I, Victoria doesn't break any new ground and the constant political references may discourage readers wanting a portrait of the queen as a woman, wife, and mother. Only large fiction collections need consider.Rebecca Sturm Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
