Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England 1829

Whenever the name of Queen Victoria is mentioned, most people think of the picture of her as an older woman, looking rather stern and dressed in black.

This novel shows a ten-year-old Victoria, growing up like other girls of her class. He has to learn how to act properly and how to deal with how the various adults in her life behave towards each other. At one point she mentions that the subjects she is studying include "Reading, writing, adding, subtracting, drawing, dancing, music, history, geography, Scripture reading, languages and orthography." The languages include French and German. This is rather a heavy schedule for a girl that's only ten years old, and this is way before computers or any other mass-media learning aids.

The book also shows that Victoria is not, of course, perfect, saying rude things from time to time, but overall by today's standards she would be considered an almost perfectly-behaved young girl, quite advanced beyond her years in learning.

As always, there is also a good historical section that helps put events and people into perspective.

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