Victoria

Victoria Synopsis

'Writing about Queen Victoria has been one of the most joyous experiences of my life. I have read thousands (literally) of letters never before published, and grown used to her as to a friend. Maddening?

Egomaniac? Hysterical? A bad mother?

Some have said so. What emerged for me was a brave, original woman who was at the very epicentre of Britain's changing place in the world:

• a solitary woman in an all-male world who understood politics and foreign policy much better than some of her ministers
• a person possessed by demons, but demons which she was brave enough to conquer. Above all, I became aware, when considering her eccentric friendships and deep passions, of what a loveable person she was.&apos
• A. N. Wilson