{"product_id":"serving-victoria-9780062269928","title":"Serving Victoria","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A vivid, entertaining and often comical portrait of life at court.\" --\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\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.\" -- \u003cem\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e (London)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHubbard, Kate:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eAfter leaving Oxford University, Kate Hubbard worked variously as a researcher, a teacher, a book reviewer and a publisher's reader and a freelance editor. She currently works for the Royal Literary Fund. She is the author of the acclaimed historical biography \u003cem\u003eServing Victoria\u003c\/em\u003e and lives in London and Dorset.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50409501098258,"sku":"9780062269928","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b7505e94-fa1b-4a87-8587-94c588744e76.jpg?v=1729289044","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/serving-victoria-9780062269928","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}