Jean Plaidy's Books on Queen Victoria

I had the fortune to go to Borders last weekend and I went to the Literature section where the Historical Fiction books were located. I let out a squeal when I saw the Jean Plaidy books, which caused a woman browsing nearby to glance at me. The cry was involuntary and I myself was surprised by it, as I'm not the squealing type.

So, anyway, I looked for The Captive of Kensington Palace and it was there! I grabbed it and browsed. I'd read good reviews of it on Amazon and I wanted to read it immediately.

I was disappointed. Why? I expected a novel the likes of Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl or The Constant Princess. But this was so far removed from my expectations that I wanted to cry.

Just to be sure what I felt was right, I read  several different scenes, especially what I think, as a romance reader, is the most exciting place for me--when Victoria met Albert for the first time. Unfortunately, they all read the same. I felt like I was reading a history book, only with dialogue. If I'd wanted a history lesson, I'd have read Wikipedia and be done with it, but so far, I've been resisting the urge to do so, because I want Queen Victoria and the events of her time to come alive for me.

Yes, that's what I'm looking for when I read historical fiction. A close first or third person POV, wherein you can see the events of history through his/her eyes and feel like you were really there. Living history vicariously.

So, I guess this means I have to continue my search for good fiction books on Queen Victoria.

Historical Fiction Craze

I just watched The Young Victoria in dvd and I thirsted to know more about this lovely young woman and her prince, and one of the greatest love stories of all time. This is one of the books that was recommended and which, fortunately, I found in my library, as it's quite old. (Ignore the "look inside". I got the pic from Amazon and too lazy to crop it.)

Then again, these books look good too! Some very kind people from Good Reads recommended them to me. All are books about Queen Victoria, from the time she was still a princess to when she ruled alone without Prince Albert at her side.

From there, I seem to remember eyeing some historical fiction books that were newly released in recent months. After my Sarah Mayberry craze, I may just go into these: