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Prisoners in the Palace How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid a Reporter and a Scoundrel Michaela MacColl 9780811873000 Books

Download As PDF : Prisoners in the Palace How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid a Reporter and a Scoundrel Michaela MacColl 9780811873000 Books

Prisoners in the Palace How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid a Reporter and a Scoundrel Michaela MacColl 9780811873000 Books

While I admire the huge amount of historical research that went into this novel, I came away not liking Princess Victoria very much. Most of the history is accurate and as the author notes, some of it was condensed from several years into one for brevity. My main dislike of the novel is that Princess Victoria comes across as a hugely spoiled brat at best and an inconsiderate snob at worst. I've read many biographies of Victoria and one of the interesting aspects about her is her compassion for her people of the working and poorer classes. While I understand that this novel covers her late teens, she comes across as one of those overly primped, overly spoiled, self-centered 10 year-olds that make everyone else's life hell. It's a bit like Nelly Olson in Little House On the Prairie. Maybe she was that way, but I hope not. This book made her very annoying and I found myself wanting to skim through the scenes with her in it, though that's really not possible. I found myself rooting for a non-monarchy republic in Britain after a while. When the subject of the novel is so annoying, it makes for a frustrating read. This book is definitely geared toward the YA crowd, but I think, even they would find it tedious.


Tags : Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel [Michaela MacColl] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless,Michaela MacColl,Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel,Chronicle Books,0811873005,Biographical,Historical - Europe,Romance - General,Great Britain - History - William IV, 1830-1837,Great Britain;History;William IV, 1830-1837;Juvenile fiction.,Household employees,London (England) - History - 1800-1950,London (England);History;1800-1950;Juvenile fiction.,Orphans,Orphans;Fiction.,Self-reliance,Victoria - Childhood and youth,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),England,Fiction,Fiction-Historical,Historical Fiction (Young Adult),Historical fiction (Children's Teenage),JUVENILE,JUVENILE FICTION Historical Europe,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile FictionRoyalty,Juvenile Grades 7-9 Ages 12-14,Royalty (kings queens princes princesses knights etc.),TEEN'S FICTION HISTORICAL,TEEN'S FICTION ROMANCE,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Biographical,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Historical Europe,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,teen; mystery; historical; Royalty; England; Victorian; young adult; suitors; murder; love; book nerd; retelling; adventure; strong female protagonist; London; Downton Abbey,teen; mystery; historical; Royalty; England; Victorian; young adult; suitors; murder; love; book nerd; retelling; adventure; strong female protagonist; London; Downton Abbey,JUVENILE FICTION Historical Europe,Juvenile FictionRoyalty,Royalty (kings queens princes princesses knights etc.),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Biographical,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Historical Europe,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,Fiction,Historical Fiction (Young Adult),YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Historical fiction (Children's Teenage)

Prisoners in the Palace How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid a Reporter and a Scoundrel Michaela MacColl 9780811873000 Books Reviews

This is an interesting story and look into the early life of Queen Victoria, obviously fictional it still is entertaining and light enough to keep the most bored reader curious about what happens to the characters. It has a comical character to lighten what might be some dry spots and there is an underlying truth per the history books.
Prisoners in the Palace is exactly what it says on the tin a (fictitious) story about how Victoria became queen with some unexpected help. However, rather than the Princess Victoria being the main character, the plot follows Elizabeth Hastings (or "Liza"), a recently orphaned young lady who eventually becomes Victoria's maid, and Liza's personal struggles as she becomes entangled with the lives of those at Kensington Palace.

The writing is very compelling, and all the characters, from those based on historical people such as Victoria, the Duchess, and Sir John, to those who were fictional but based on people who could have existed at the time, such as Liza and Will Fulton, are very believable. They all have their flaws, but that only makes them feel more human. The pacing is very well-set, never feeling rushed, but never feeling bogged down, either. There was obviously a lot of thought and passion put into this novel, and though the author takes some liberties with the timeline (which she makes a note of in her author's notes), she clearly did her research very well, and I learned quite about about Victoria's young life while also getting an entertaining story.

Interspersed throughout are passages from the Queen Victoria's actual diary, (fictitious) letters between various characters, and entries in Liza's own diaries. Rather than being forced, however, I found they were woven in very fluently with the rest of the story, giving the reader important information while still being interesting reads.

I'd give the story 4.5 stars. I'd say five stars, but there were a few minor points that keep me from giving it a perfect score. Most notably, the beginning was a little rough. We're launched so quickly into the story that almost no build-up is given for character or setting. The author does get to that in the next couple of chapters, but because of the jarring introduction, I considered passing on this story - though, in the end, I'm glad I didn't.

Another point that struck me as odd was the introduction of Liza's "selfish" thoughts. There's nothing wrong with looking out for oneself - especially for someone in Liza's position, an orphan left with her parents' debt in a strange land, one step away from being tossed onto the streets. However, the way it is written is very jarring when she hears the Duchess and Sir John plotting against her, she feels protective of Victoria; when she sees how Sir John acts and presents himself, she instinctively feels she can't trust him; when he tries to buy her loyalty, she is appalled; and then, as soon as she's by herself, she wonders if she should be loyal to Victoria or Sir John. Why would she consider working for Sir John when she was just thinking she can't trust him? If there is a reason, it needs to be explained; as it is, it just comes out of left field. However, when she brings up the problem of who she should be loyal to in her journal entry the next chapter, it flows much better, and Liza makes her thought process very clear. The author should have left the entire discussion of Liza's quandary for the journal entry, or else tackled the entire matter when it first came up. Liza does have to think of her own situation, and I've no objection to that - I just feel it wasn't written as well as it could have been.

Still, those are minor complaints, as they only come up in the beginning, and the rest of the novel flows much more naturally. I would highly recommend this story to anyone who likes historical fiction, romance, and adventure, because this book has all three in spades.

Review of the version There were no typos that I noticed, and the page numbers total at 353. I like that it's easy to tell the difference between the narrative chapters, letters, and journal entries not only by the headings at the beginnings of each (such as "Excerpt from the Journal of Her Royal Highness," "From Miss Elizabeth Hastings to...", "A Broadsheet, Published Anonymously," or the chapter number and name of the chapter), but because each is formatted a little differently. You can't get to any specific letter or excerpt from the table of contents, but each letter and excerpt is positioned at the end of a chapter, so if you're looking for one in particular, it won't be too hard to find. There are also nice touches like jpg decorations being used to denote a scene change (as opposed to a blank space or asterisks) or mark the beginning of a chapter. I especially love the extras at the end, which include author's notes that give more details about the historical events and characters used in the book, a list of books suggested for further reading in case you're interested in the life of Queen Victoria, a discussion guide, author's bio, and a sneak peek at another novel by the same author.
Before Victoria became a queen who ruled for sixty-four years and had an age named after her, she was Her Royal Highness Victoria Kent living in a shabby Kensington Palace and firmly under the thumb of her mother and Sir John Conroy. This is the story of the year before she becomes queen told by Miss Elizabeth Hastings.

Liza Hastings is a gentlewoman who was orphaned at seventeen and saddled with her father's debts. She is offered a position as a Lady's maid to Princess Victoria and her governess Baroness Lehzen and quickly becomes part of the political intrigue at Kensington Palace.

Liza is determined to help Victoria thwart the political ambitions of her mother and Sir John. Because Liza was raised all over Europe, she is fluent in German which is the language most often spoken in Victoria's home. Keeping her knowledge a secret allows her to learn of some of Sir John's plans.

When Liza learns that Victoria is being denigrated in the press, she meets Will Fulton who is the one publishing the broadsheets and, along with Victoria, uses them to get back at Sir John. Sir John is a dastardly villain who also seduces housemaids and one plot thread has Liza tracking down the young woman who had her job before her which allows us to see what life is like for a woman without prospects in England at this time.

The story was well written and mixes a variety of fictional and real characters to tell a fascinating story. Excerpts from Liza's and Victoria's journals add more detail. I recommend this one for fans of historical fiction.
While I admire the huge amount of historical research that went into this novel, I came away not liking Princess Victoria very much. Most of the history is accurate and as the author notes, some of it was condensed from several years into one for brevity. My main dislike of the novel is that Princess Victoria comes across as a hugely spoiled brat at best and an inconsiderate snob at worst. I've read many biographies of Victoria and one of the interesting aspects about her is her compassion for her people of the working and poorer classes. While I understand that this novel covers her late teens, she comes across as one of those overly primped, overly spoiled, self-centered 10 year-olds that make everyone else's life hell. It's a bit like Nelly Olson in Little House On the Prairie. Maybe she was that way, but I hope not. This book made her very annoying and I found myself wanting to skim through the scenes with her in it, though that's really not possible. I found myself rooting for a non-monarchy republic in Britain after a while. When the subject of the novel is so annoying, it makes for a frustrating read. This book is definitely geared toward the YA crowd, but I think, even they would find it tedious.