The author is new to me. She has many books set in England and enjoys researching and writing about the Royal Family. This book is set in the early 20th century when Queen Victoria was on the throne and before the current queen was even born. It was when her dad was a little boy! It is highly fictionalized though and the author, in her notes, does stress that. Much of this (the characters, some parts of the plot) is based on real facts from diaries, etc but most of it is definitely fiction.
STORY SUMMARY
It is April 1897 and on the Sandringham Estate, which is the ancestral estate of the Duke and Duchess of York, their new nanny, Miss Charlotte Bill, arrives to take charge of their two sons, David and Bertie (who will eventually be the father of the present day Queen Elizabeth!). The Dutchess is expecting child number 3 and Charlotte is excited, nervous, and exhausted....but she is about to meet Royalty!!
Charlotte takes care of a generation of Royals in such a way that their parents never could. The boys begin to call her Lala and the name sticks throughout her entire life. She cares for David and Bertie, and then their little sister Mary, and then George and Harry, as though they are her very own.
Soon, little Johnnie (known as Prince John to the world) is born and it is discovered that he is vastly "different". Not only does he have epilepsy, but he displays characteristics of a child who today would be labeled "autistic" or at best, "Asperger's Syndrome". Johnnie needs all of Lala's love, care and protection. His own parents can't.....or won't...show him love. In fact, they basically hide him from the world.
As the years turn into another year, we discover that Charlotte loves Chad the estate gamekeeper, but she turns down his proposal of marriage because she feels she needs to be with "her children". Chad then marries a woman who has several miscarriages and dies giving birth to their one child, a daughter named Penelope (Penny). Chad and Penny continue the friendship with Lala and Penny even gets to play with Johnnie who is the same age. Chad and Charlotte plan their wedding when all of a sudden tragedy strikes the estate!
What will the future bring?
MY THOUGHTS
This book was absolutely enthralling. The author did a great job with her historical research on the Windsor family and explains many points in the end notes.
I found myself really liking Charlotte and Chad and wanting them to overcome all the obstacles thrown in their path.
My heart broke for Prince John and the way the doctor wanted to deal with his epileptic seizures. I discovered upon my own research and that of the author's end notes that these methods really did exist in England during the early 20th century! (shudder).
The author does introduce Kaiser Wilhelm and the Romanov families to this story and it was interesting to read the interactions between all these Royal cousins. I found myself wondering if she also wrote a book about the Romanov family but upon researching this, I don't think she has. She has written many novels and one series is beckoning to me (the Cold Creek Series).
This particular book gets into the daily lives of the Royal family and what it was like, especially for the servants and the women during that era. Women's suffragette movement is mentioned as well as WWI and briefly, towards the end, there is mention of Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, David (actually known as Prince Edward) as an older adult (the prince who decided to abdicate the throne to his brother Bertie. Bertie is based on the King who was the father of England's current Queen, Elizabeth. Bertie is also the king who stammered and in which the movie The King's Speech is based on).
The author included a list of the Main British Royal Characters and their names/titles. I found this very helpful.
I loved this book because it is written from the perspective of a nanny who really seemed to love all of the children as though they were her own. The ending left me choked up and brought tears to my eyes.
The famous quote "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" (Alfred Lord Tennyson) appears towards the end of this story.
And that says it all.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
1 comment:
Well this totally is calling my name. It sounds very interesting. I don't mind fictionalized stories that have true to life characters show up in them. That's why the author's notes are so interesting too.
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