Series debut
I’ve read many books by Darcie Wilde (aka Sarah Zettel), but this may be my favorite. The writing and pacing are crisp and the character development seems to utilize all the things Wilde must have learned writing her other books. It’s exquisite. While this is a pretty familiar story to a history buff, like any good historical novelist, Wilde shines a new light on history, illuminating the facts with her perceptions of the characters in the story.
The main character, Queen Victoria – Princess Victoria at the time of this novel – is living under the “Kensington System,” an elaborate and restrictive set of rules that governed Victoria’s life until she became Queen. She never had a moment alone, had to sleep in her mother’s room, and every movement and thought she had was determined by her mother and her mother’s aide, Sir John Conroy. The result in both fact and fiction was that Victoria wanted nothing more than to shed the rules imposed on her and to try and evade them.
Wilde posits in this novel, which takes place two years before Victoria becomes Queen, that Victoria insisted on going for a ride and on that ride, discovers a dead body. She’s thrown from her horse and while she’s fine, Conroy attempts to convince her that she saw nothing, she’d imagined it all. Victoria knows that’s not the truth and decides she will discover what is going on, and who the dead man was.
Every good detective needs a Watson, and Victoria finds one in Conroy’s daughter, Jane (renamed for this novel – her name was actually also Victoria). Jane is a quiet, querulous girl who is abused and verbally shamed by her father, even though he also sees Jane as an agent of information. When Jane and Victoria appear to be growing closer, he’s delighted by this possible new way into Victoria’s private life.
Victoria, in life and in fiction, was a determined person, and she and Jane not only form a friendship, they develop different methods to be able to talk to one another where they won’t be overheard. Not only do the girls discover the dead man’s identity, forcing Conroy to admit his existence, they begin to uncover a web of secrets and lies surrounding the man. As Victoria is monitored practically every minute of every day, this is not easy, but the girls manage, often with the help of Victoria’s governess, Lehzen.
Wilde wraps up the novel with an actual serious illness Victoria suffered, which serves to highlight the forces surrounding her, both good and bad. The friendship between Victoria and Jane, and Jane’s developing identity, make this novel a real standout. Even if you aren’t familiar with the history, you’ll surely be captivated by the universally interesting story of a confined young girl outsmarting her keepers and triumphing. Though as a reader you know she’ll become Queen, to the sixteen year old Victoria, that day seems very far away. This is a wonderful story of personal triumph over adversity and of a deepening and interesting friendship. — Robin Agnew