I have never known much about Queen Victoria's family so it was interesting to catch a glimpse of their lifestyle through this book. It seems that the kids were mostly close, other than when they married spouses of opposing sides of the war, which naturally split the family. Louise's story intrigued me because she didn't just do what was expected of her. She was very independent and progressive in her thinking. Her relationship with her brothers Bertie and Leo were particularly endearing and her friendship with Sybil. I can imagine being a royal can be quite lonely at times but Louise weathered the storms with grace and became a very strong character as a result.
I would recommend this book for anyone who has any interest in the modern history of the English royal family. It was a great read.

I would like to begin by saying that I love the cover art!

I have always been interested in monarch history. I have read several articles and books on both Queen Victoria and Albert. I don't know much about their children, apart from the learning difficulties Bertie struggled with. I quite enjoyed learning about Louise.

This book is well-written and engaging. A few parts were a bit slow, but overall it was an interesting read.

This was an interesting book. I did not know anything about Princess Louise and so gained quite a bit of knowledge. It was also interesting looking at what a real life Princess's life looked like, and at least for Queen Victoria's daughters, it wasn't quite so glamorous. It was interesting to see what life was like at that time period, with all the wranglings of countries and inter marriages. I enjoyed her relationship with her brother Leo and wondered much about her eldest brother and his family.

I felt the story dragged a bit for me, but on a historical level it was done well.

This was such an interesting read! I didn't know anything about Princess Louise before reading this book, and I enjoyed learning about her life. I really appreciated the author's notes on each chapter at the end of the book that detailed the historical facts from each. I also learned about Queen Victoria and this made me want to read more about her. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to fans of historical fiction.

I absolutely loved this book! I took it very slowly to enjoy the writing along with the narrative! Princess Louisa was delightful and I think we would have been friends! Her mother frightens the daylights out of me, but I get it. She demanded obedience to laws because of who she was. I think it is all so fascinating and would love for more! I truly enjoyed the love story! Makes me smile to think about it even now!

'In the Shadow of a Queen' is a Victorian-era historical fiction novel centred around Louise, the sixth daughter of Queen Victoria, and her fight for freedom within the constraints of royalty. This is a story about knowing who you are from a young age and trying to figure out how you fit within your world. Coming into 'In the Shadow of a Queen', I was excited for a Victorian-era historical fiction novel, especially after just having watched the second season of 'Bridgerton'. I love Victorian-era aesthetics (the heavy velvets, and lace and ballrooms) as well as rebellious coming-of-age stories and royal historical fiction, and this book ticked all of those boxes.

*Characterisation Masterpiece*
The characterisation in this novel was quite literally Perfect with a capital P. Characters of all ages felt genuine and had depth, even minor characters. As Louise grew older she matured in a very natural, unforced way so that it was impossible to see the changes as they were happening but obvious when looking back a few chapters. In addition, no one was depicted as entirely good or evil, a mistake often made in historical fiction. Queen Victoria, for example, was depicted as a complex, controlling woman, but she was also deep in grief for most of the novel whilst still having the best interests of her children at heart. These conflicting motivations create a stark and unique character who did the best she could but was ultimately flawed. This allowed other characters to have complex and contradictory relationships with her that, whilst not often depicted in literature, felt incredibly human.

*Freedom or Romance?*
Generally, 'In the Shadow of the Queen' was a fun read. The pacing was excellent, even though the plot itself was not what I expected. I had thought the story would be more heavily directed towards Louise’s artistic accomplishments and life in public systems outside the constraints of royalty. It did go in this direction for most of the first half, but in the second half there was a sharp swerve towards romance and Louise’s search for a husband. From that point on, the art and freedom subplots were almost entirely dropped, replaced by relationship and war subplots. This did surprise and disappoint me at first, as the first half felt like it was building up to a strong message that was then instead superseded by romance.

However, in retrospect, I don’t think these threads were dropped entirely, but instead were altered to be experienced in relation to Louise’s new relationships. In the first half, Louise was a child and had few responsibilities, and so could explore her freedom in its entirety. However, as she grew older and gained responsibilities, this freedom needed instead to be experienced within the institution of royalty.

Even though it wasn’t what I expected, I did enjoy the romance subplot, and I can understand why it became the focus.

*Writing Style*
The writing itself was clear, easy to read and never dragged. Interactions between the characters, much like the characterisation, felt very genuine, and Moore’s ability to clearly express complex emotions so concisely and in such an easily understandable way was impressive.

*Fun and Unique*
Ultimately, 'In the Shadow of a Queen' was a unique, fun, easy-to-read historical fiction that encouraged a genuine connection to the characters, and as a result I rated it 4 stars. Even though it went in a different direction than I expected it to, I was never disappointed.

This story is about Princess Louisa -daughter of Queen Victoria of England. It begins when Louise was 12 years old and follows her life and the lives of her family for several years. Important events occur, like the death of her father, and the marriages of her siblings. The story is well written and researched extremely well. I had a hard time getting into the story at the beginning, with several stops and restarts. As Louisa grew I found myself more interested in her and her life story. I had never really paid attention to Queen Victoria's children before, so that drew me in. As she moves through her father's death and her mother's grief, it was interesting to see how those things impacted her and her siblings. There is a wonderful love story woven into this book that I enjoyed a great deal. I would definitely recommend this book to read, give as a gift, and purchase for your library. It has so many historical details that are important in history.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are voluntary and unbiased and are completely my own opinion.

#intheshadowofaqueen #netgalley

This was a great story to read. I loved the storyline and the characters, definitely recommend this book!

In the Shadow of a Queen is a beautiful depiction of a mother-daughter dynamic. I have seen so many shows that depicted the famous Queen. The book is a unique take on Queen Elizabeth and Prince Albert’s life, especially after the Prince’s death.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in clean, historical fiction. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I give it 3.5 Stars.

There are several reasons I was eager to read this book. Having visited the Albert and Victoria Museum in London several times, I didn't feel like I got enough of their actual history from the tours throughout. While I realized they had many children, I hadn't learned much about any of them. Of course, the fact that the heroine of this book was named "Louise" intrigued me more than a bit. My mother was very knowledgeable about British Royalty and continued to study it until she died at an old age. That was one of the many interests she passed down to me, but, unlike her, I was pretty slack in my reading. Then there's the fact that Heather Moore wrote this. I love everything she pens, but, particularly, the historical and scriptural novels. Wow, what research she had to have put into this!

The book mades it so easy for the reader to see these historical characters as real people with real lives. They had some of the human frailties, problems and heartaches as the rest of us. I was, especially, interested in the way that couples to be married were selected and even more so royal couples. It was almost like a science to put the right two individuals together.

Thank you, Heather Moore, for another enjoyable while educational contribution to literature! And thank you, Net Galley, for the opportunity to read it early.

Reviewed on Goodreads for now, will add to other sites when published.

"In the Shadow of a Queen" is a historical fiction based on real facts and people.

I nearly didn't pick this book when I saw the cover, because I thought it would be some kind of mystery/thriller book, but far from it! It's a historical fiction sprinkled with a little bit of romance towards the end.
Just reading the summary, I realised the potential and originality of this book. It is rare to read a fiction from the point of view of a real historical person, and even less common when they are not so famous!

This book is about Louise, the sixth child (and fourth daughter) of Queen Victoria. We follow her from her young teens until right after her marriage. We follow her as we grows up, as she grieves, as she loves, as she becomes an artist and a more engaged woman.

At the beginning of each chapter is an extract from letters of the royal family. That was were a great addition - giving not only direct insight into their thoughts, but also showing how people used to write back in the days!

As always, I really enjoyed Heather B. Moore's writing. We dive seamlessly into the story, jump from one year to the next without realising it. It nearly feels like time-travelling more than reading a story!

I really appreciated discovering Princess Louise's life in the different royal houses, the numerous restrictions she had, as well as the few privileges she could boast. Rather than living "in the shadow of a queen", it rather seemed that she lived a life under the heel of a demanding queen !
While we can easily related to "Loosy" thanks to her open, curious and slightly rebellious character, one just cannot envy her royal life because she had so much pressure and so little freedom...

This book really made the consider real historical characters in a different way - especially Queen Victoria - and also encouraged me to get lost into Wikipedia to learn more about each member of the royal family, the rest of their lives, their children...

In a nutshell, a really great book which I would highly recommend to discover more about the life of Queen Victoria's family, and especially of Louise.

I found this book slow going. Partly because I would stop to look things up as I didn't know much about this era of history prior to reading this, and partly because it's basically a fictionalized biography, so not the most gripping of tales. That said, Heather Moore does a great job of fleshing out the historical characters and bringing them to life in a relatable way.

I'm glad the book ended when it did, on a positive note. One of my favourite parts of this book was when Princess Louise first met a commoner who didn't instantly recognise her. The exchange was humorous and showed the Princess' character to be very different to what people expected from a Royal.
I will say that I enjoyed Moore's 'The Paper Daughter's of Chinatown" more than this one, but it is a great way to learn more history without going to dry textbooks.

England, 1861. This story begins with Princess Louise at age twelve and it takes about one-third of the book before she reaches eighteen. Her adolescent years are slow in pace. The story picks the pace half way through when her mother tries to match her with the right candidate for a husband.

The style of writing has a lot of who is doing what, how people are behaving, or at times step-by-step descriptions with lots of dialogue. I was missing characterization of a strong character. Princess Louise is artistically talented and a strong willed person who’d rather forge her own path, rather than follow the strict protocols. And the story weaves it in, but I just didn’t feel it.

It is still an interesting story with a smooth prose. When it comes to dialogue, it’s a personal preference, less dialogue and more characterization. Thus, you may not even notice it.

I have read many books and articles about Queen Victoria herself, but I must admit that I have not read much about her children. I love that the author includes each of her children in this book even though it’s mostly about Princess Louise. It was very captivating and I could not stop reading cause I had to know more. The relationship between Louise and Bertie was probably my favorite because we get to see his soft side for his little sister. All in all this book was amazing and it’s definitely worth a read, I will be reading again in the future.

This story is a fictionalized account of Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise. Louise is a headstrong, independent-thinking, liberal-minded "modern" young woman who longs to go to art school to perfect her sculptures.

Stars: This book is obviously well-researched. Even though I've read a lot about Victoria and her family, there was still new information I hadn't come across before. I enjoyed learning about Louise's journey to finding a husband. This was an easy, quick and enjoyable read.

Wishes: The book seemed like two stories: the first being Louise's childhood and longing to do art and the second being her challenges to marriage and the subsequent happy partnership she was able to create. I wish the book had continued and tied together her plans for women's rights along with her supportive marriage. It seemed to end abruptly.

Strong writing from an experienced author. With a good plot and well crafted characters, this has the elements of a good historical tale that most fans of the genre will likely enjoy. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Fantastic book. Well researched, well written, and interesting to read. I was surprised the author didn't touch upon or even mention Princess Louise's supposed illegitimate child (never proven) or her husband's homosexuality. Overall, a very enjoyable book. Louise was always my favorite of Victoria and Albert's children. I loved her spark of life and stubborness.

I have always been interested in royalty, and I find Queen Victoria fascinating. I was so excited to read this book and learn more about her daughter, Louise.

I went into this book knowing nothing about Louise, but I came away with a lot of admiration for her! I love that she found ways to be herself despite the royal expectations. I was so grateful that she was able to marry for love. Her loyalty to her family is admirable - I definitely would have struggled with the demands!

I could tell that Heather B. Moore really worked hard to take all the information available on these historical figures and fill in their stories. I loved the quotes from letters at the beginning of each chapter.

I definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys the Victorian era!

Thank you to NetGalley, Shadow Mountain Publishing, and Heather B. Moore for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I enjoyed this stunning history of Queen Victorias most interesting daughter. It was interesting to follow her from pre-teen years throughout her life and the husband hunt was my favorite part. Learning about Queen Victoria was equally fascinating.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book. All opinions stages are my own.

Just like the author Heather B Moore, my interest in the Royal family began in the 1980s...when Diana came on the scene. I bought a huge book on the Royal family and slowly worked my way back in history.
While Queen Victoria has been portrayed in modern movies and dramas, it was a pleasure to explore a small timeframe in the life of her daughter Louise....a forward thinking artistic young lady, restricted by her royal heritage, austre mother and expectations of women in this era. Louise was ahead of her time in championing woman's rights as the suffragette movement establishes itself.
"In the Shadow of a Queen" is a very apt title. Louise is trying to make her own path in life, focussing on her artistic talents including sculpting. But her mother is bogged down by her dedication to royal protocol and her depression caused by losing her husband Albert so young. In the same way as her older sisters, Louise is forbidden to leave her mother's side....becoming her private secrery. Louise is forced to find ways to obey her mother's wishes, but also enable her own wishes come true.
Heather effortlessly weaves history with fiction in a fascinating read I loved. Such a well researched and seamlessly fictionalised narrative - I truly believed I knew Louise so well.
"In the Shadow of a Queen is the story of a battle of wills between two women: a daughter determined to forge her own life beyond the shadow of her mother, and a queen resolved to keep the Crown’s reputation unsullied no matter the cost"
Thanks to NetGalley, Shadowmountain Publishing and Heather B Moore for my copy of this book.