Becoming Victoria

Just eight months old when her father, Edward, duke of Kent, died unexpectedly, the princess Victoria moved significantly closer to Englands throne. The task of raising a potential female monarch assumed critical importance for the nation, yet Victorias girlhood and adolescence have received scant attention from historians, cultural critics, and even her biographers. In this engaging and revealing book, Lynne Vallone shows us a new Victoriaa lively and passionate girl very different from the iconic dour widow of the queens later life. Based on a thorough exploration of the young Victorias own letters, stories, drawings, educational materials, and journalsdocuments that have been under appreciated until nowthe book illuminates the princesss childhood from her earliest years to her accession to the throne at age eighteen in 1837. Vallone presents a fresh assessment of the rose of England within the culture of girlhood and domestic life in the 1820s and 1830s. The author also explores the complex and often conflicting contexts of the period, including Georgian childrens literature, conventional childrearing practices, domestic and familial intrigues, and the frequently turbulent political climate. Part biography, part historical and cultural study, this richly illustrated volume uncovers in fascinating detail the childhood that Victoria actually lived.