{"product_id":"serving-victoria-life-in-the-royal-household-isbn-9780062269928","title":"Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household","description":"\u003cp\u003e“A vivid, entertaining and often comical portrait of life at court.” —Wall Street Journal\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Compelling. . . . The rhythm of court life at Windsor or Balmoral is the backdrop to a rich human drama, a story of people existing in uneasy intimacy with the royal family.” — Daily Telegraph (London)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on the letters and diaries of six members of Queen Victoria's household, Serving Victoria offers unique insight into the queen and her court. Seen through the eyes of her servants—including the governess to the royal children, her maid of honor, her chaplain, and her personal physician—Victoria emerges as more vulnerable, more emotional, more selfish, more comical than the austere figure depicted in her portraits.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe see a woman prone to fits of giggles, who wept easily and often, who shrank from confrontation yet insisted on controlling the lives of those around her. We witness her extraordinary and debilitating grief at the death of her husband, Albert, and her sympathy toward the tragedies that afflicted her household.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA perfect foil to the pomp and circumstance, prudery and conservatism that has become synonymous with Victoria's reign, Serving Victoria is an unforgettable glimpse of what it meant to serve the queen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis detailed portrait, drawn from recently unearthed primary sources, reveals:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePrimary Source History:\u003c\/b\u003e Drawn from the never-before-published letters and diaries of six key members of the royal household, including a governess, a maid-of-honour, and the Queen's personal physician.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA Private Portrait of a Queen:\u003c\/b\u003e A Victoria who giggled, wept, and shrank from confrontation, emerging as a far more vulnerable and emotional woman than her austere public image suggests.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eLife Inside the Palace:\u003c\/b\u003e An unforgettable glimpse into the daily lives, social anxieties, and surprising dramas of those who served the Queen at Windsor, Osborne, and Balmoral.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Aftermath of Albert's Death:\u003c\/b\u003e Witness Queen Victoria's extraordinary and debilitating grief at the death of her husband and its profound impact on the entire court.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e | \u003cp\u003eBased on the letters and diaries of six members of Queen Victoria's household, \u003cem\u003eServing Victoria\u003c\/em\u003e offers unique insight into the queen and her court. Seen through the eyes of her servants—including the governess to the royal children, her maid of honor, her chaplain, and her personal physician—Victoria emerges as more vulnerable, more emotional, more selfish, more comical than the austere figure depicted in her portraits.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe see a woman prone to fits of giggles, who wept easily and often, who shrank from confrontation yet insisted on controlling the lives of those around her. We witness her extraordinary and debilitating grief at the death of her husband, Albert, and her sympathy toward the tragedies that afflicted her household.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA perfect foil to the pomp and circumstance, prudery and conservatism that has become synonymous with Victoria's reign, \u003cem\u003eServing Victoria\u003c\/em\u003e is an unforgettable glimpse of what it meant to serve the queen.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Kate Hubbard’s entertaining book, drawing on the vast pile of correspondence from ladies in waiting, maids of honour and others, paints a picture of court life that is compellingly vivid.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Observer (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Well-written….Fascinating….Both eye opening and thoroughly engaging.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAndrew Holgate, Sunday Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Hubbard has] plundered a rich vein of fascinating and often new information.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVal Hennessy, Daily Mail (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Compelling....The rhythm of court life at Windsor or Balmoral is the backdrop to a rich human drama, a story of people existing in uneasy intimacy with the royal family.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBen Wilson, Daily Telegraph (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A testament to Hubbard’s talent….Readers interested in the Victorian era and the British royal family will enjoy this well-written and remarkably inte4resting account of the ‘woeful dullness’ and ‘loneliness’ of life inside Victoria’s court.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Fascinating.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Entertaining….Hubbard draws on a wealth of correspondence and diaries to weave an amusing ‘Upstairs, Upstairs’ drama.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A touching portrait of Victoria offstage and unguarded.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The appeal in Hubbard’s story is the excitement in an otherwise dull existence. Call it the sensuality of the stiffness….The emotional complexity is as entertaining as (and more astute than) most upstairs-downstairs soaps, even those written by Julian Fellowes.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A vivid, entertaining and often comical portrait….Ms. Hubbard has achieved a real feat in writing so compellingly about life in the ‘airless bell jar,’ as she describes the court.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888176787685,"sku":"NP9780062269928","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062269928.jpg?v=1730228335","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/serving-victoria-life-in-the-royal-household-isbn-9780062269928","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}