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  • Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter

  • A Biography of Princess Louise
  • By: Lucinda Hawksley
  • Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
  • Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (21 ratings)

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Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter

By: Lucinda Hawksley
Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
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Publisher's Summary

Spirited and lively, Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter is richly packed with arguments, intrigues, scandals, and secrets, and is a vivid portrait of a princess desperate to escape her inheritance.

The secrets of Queen Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise, may be destined to remain hidden forever. What was so dangerous about this artistic, tempestuous royal that her life has been documented more by rumor and gossip than hard facts? When Lucinda Hawksley started to investigate, often thwarted by inexplicable secrecy, she discovered a fascinating woman, modern before her time, whose story has been shielded for years from public view.

Louise was a sculptor and painter, friend to the Pre-Raphaelites and a keen member of the Aesthetic movement. The most feisty of the Victorian princesses, she kicked against her mother's controlling nature and remained fiercely loyal to her brothers - especially the sickly Leopold and the much-maligned Bertie. She sought out other unconventional women, including Josephine Butler and George Eliot, and campaigned for education and health reform and for the rights of women. She battled with her indomitable mother for permission to practice the "masculine" art of sculpture and go to art college - and in doing so became the first British princess to attend a public school.

The rumors of Louise's colorful love life persist even today, with hints of love affairs dating as far back as her teenage years, and notable scandals included entanglements with her sculpting tutor Joseph Edgar Boehm and possibly even her sister Princess Beatrice's handsome husband, Liko. True to rebellious form, she refused all royal suitors and became the first member of the royal family, since the 16th century, to marry a commoner. She moved with him to Canada when he was appointed Governor-General.

©2013 Lucinda Hawksley (P)2018 Tantor

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

A very interesting story. A little long. Let down by the narration in my opinion.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

What could have been a great story is rather let down by the writing style which had a tendency to jump all over the place, making it very hard to follow the narrative. The narrator wasn't much better as she had no expression in her voice. The focus on the scandals of Louise and others made it feel like one was reading a trashy novel. I couldn't finish listening.

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Interesting

Princess Louise was ahead of her time. It's a good book to read for Royal watchers.

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