The most recommended books about Queen Victoria

If you’ve gone through life thinking that a sprout can’t be funny, this book will convince you otherwise. Barry the Sprout is the star of the show, lodged in the head of lead character Will Starling. But the whole book is a joy. Highly inventive and very funny. It involves time travel, weird conspiracy theories, Queen Victoria, the Elephant Man, Jack the Ripper, the Brentford Snail Boy, and many more. 

This was the first biography of Queen Victoria that I read and, to date, it remains the best! Effortlessly combing in the personal with the political, it not only portrays Victoria as a Queen but also as a woman, who could simultaneously be one of the most dominant monarchs of the 19th century, and as nervous as a child. A brilliant portrayal of a fascinating character, playing a major role in one of the most interesting eras in history!

This gazetteer for monarch-aholics is the work of the witty and waspish Kenneth Rose (1924-2014), the royal biographer whose insights have set the standard for the rest of us. Embedded in the heart of the Establishment, Rose had the ability to skewer its every weakness. Duchesses, Diana, Dimbleby (Richard) and Charlotte, George V’s pet parrot – all are here, bearing out the words of Queen Elizabeth II’s non-royal grandmother, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon: "As far as I can see, some people have to be fed royalty like sea-lions fish."

Edward Marston’s Railway Detective books, set in Victorian England and featuring Inspector Colbeck, have become under-the-wire best sellers internationally. This book features a dozen short stories where he and his sergeant investigate crimes happening in different railway companies. It is a wonderful introduction to the whole Railway Detective series and these short stories can be savored at leisure as a starter for the main course of the full-length novels.

Simon Goldhill powerfully demonstrates why we remain indebted to the ancient world in so many ways. It is not just that classical columns often decorate our buildings or that classical legends inspire our films and books, our whole life still bears the cultural and psychological imprint of ancient Greece and Rome. Our current obsession with gyms, for example, stems from the Greek passion for exercising in public (and they did so naked). Gymnasium is in origin a Greek word. While Greeks and Romans took different views from us on numerous things, from romantic love to slavery, the issues they first confronted and debated still matter. Unsurprisingly for the ancient world, far from being peopled with dead white marble statues gathering dust in museums, throbbed with impassioned life. The echoes of their tumultuous lives haunt us still.

Miss Austen is Cassandra, sister of the more famous Jane, who takes centre stage in this story, though Jane is there, too, as the beloved missed sister, not the novelist. The year is 1840, Jane has been dead for twenty years, Cassandra is in her sixties and though frail is on a quest to find some missing letters which may reveal secrets about Jane and Cassandra which must not be known. It’s a mystery and we want to know if Cassandra will find those letters, but it is also a touching portrait of sisterly devotion. Cassandra makes an admirable heroine, determined and resourceful despite her frailty. It also tells much about the way in which spinsters, usually ignored by society, have a rich and complex inner life.

This book has everything I like: original plot, delightful dialog, and a complete disregard of historical facts.

Proper Victorian lady Cecilia Bassingthwaite is thrilled to discover she has attracted an assassin, certain this will ensure her full induction into the Wisteria Society, a group of women who enjoy stealing, blackmailing, and murder, as well as an excellent cup of tea.

But the assassin turns out to be a handsome pirate, and when the Wisteria Society is kidnapped, Cecilia needs his help to save them, unsure if she is falling in love or deciding the best way to kill him.

This is an absolutely wacky book with flying houses and an attractive couple who fence with words as well as swords. Fans of Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series will relate.

I read this book in two sittings, so it’s a fast read. I could easily visualize scenes thanks to Freeman’s economical and effective descriptions.

What I relate to most personally is her use of characters, especially women who are of middle age or older. In typical historical mysteries in 1900 England, ladies of the upper crust often appear as parlor decorations for tea time. Freeman’s women are much more complex. They can turn on a dime from charming to waspish and never stop manipulating the people around them—without those people having a clue—one more thing.

Freeman has a deliciously understated streak of humor. i.e., “It’s that coiffure that has me worried. If it ever came down, it could take out two or three bystanders.”

Based on the notes of Queen Victoria’s doctor, Sir James Reid, this book, written by his daughter, gives a wonderful insight into the relationships within the extended Royal Family as well as the numerous ailments with which they were afflicted. There are many amusing episodes, including the Queen’s indignation on hearing that doctors intended to remove her son-in-law’s eye, following a shooting accident; and her refusal to alter her diet to cure her frequent indigestion. Of all the books about Queen Victoria, none gives a more comprehensive account of her final hours, death, and the preparations for her funeral.