In the Shadow of a Queen

By: Heather B. Moore

Narrated by: Antonia Bath

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on the True Story of the Free-Spirited Daughter of Queen Victoria

Princess Louise’s life is upended after her father’s untimely death. Captive to the queen’s overwhelming mourning, Louise is forbidden to leave her mother’s tight circle of control and is eventually relegated to the position of personal secretary to her mother―the same position each of her sisters held until they were married.

Already an accomplished painter, Louise risks the queen’s wrath by exploring the art of sculpting, an activity viewed as unbefitting a woman. When Louise involves herself in the day’s political matters, including championing the career of a female doctor and communicating with suffragettes, the queen lays down the law to stop her and devotes her full energy to finding an acceptable match for her defiant daughter.

Louise is considered the most beautiful and talented daughter of Queen Victoria, but finding a match for the princess is no easy feat. Protocols are broken, and Louise exerts her own will as she tries to find an open-minded husband who will support her free spirit.

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.

©2022 Heather B. Moore (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Captivating

The author does a great job at sharing the characters’ personality and brings to life a vivid image of Princess Louise and Queen Victoria. Historical references are frequent and very well described. Would recommend to anyone who likes historical novel.

Love Louisa

This is the first book I’ve read about Princess Lousia. Loved getting to know her story!

Loved it!

I watched and loved the PBS Masterpiece show Victoria, so when offered an audiobook of “In The Shadow of the Queen”, I was very interested to learn about Victoria’s children.

The book was so well researched, and while not a romance or written as a story per se, the history of Princess Louise’ was fascinating to me. I loved how the facts were shared in the style of a story, but real letters and journal entries were also shared, giving the book more credibility and insight into the life of the royals at the time. I will admit being so glad that no one has access to my personal letters and journals. Could you imagine?

Life for Louise was very limited, especially in the years following her father’s death, when her mother insisted on living in a state of mourning for many years. Each acquaintance, hobby, political opinion, dress, etc, was all dictated by the queen. I admired Louise’ patience, as well as her skills in strategy to try and have some say in her life.

I loved how she perused her talents and tried to find ways to support causes she believed in, that were not in accordance with her mother’s views. It’s probably not a surprise that I also loved the part where she met and slowly fell in love with her husband. Theirs was a beautiful story, and one that was not free of heartache. They truly seemed like wonderful people through it all.

If you liked Victoria, I highly recommend this book. It was such a well researched look into the life of queen Victoria’s children and life as a child royal.

Absolutely loved this book!

I absolutely loved this book! The research alone that must have gone into this novel would be enough for me to give it 5 stars, but add an excellent portrayal of the Royal family and a sweet romance, and I will be recommending this to all my friends who like historical fiction. The reader was excellent too!

One of the best books I’ve listened to!

Heather B Moore is one of my very favorite authors. She always has the best people read her books on Audio.
I loved ‘In the Shadow of a Queen’ so much! Accurate history turned into a beautiful novel! 👍♥️

What a remarkable princess!

Louise was such a remarkable person let alone a remarkable princess. I learned much about the life of Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria of England as well as Queen Victoria herself. Princess Louise was definitely born ahead of her time! Great reading!

The story was extremely captivating

I loved the story and narration. This was a very emotional tale and I was able to relate to a lot of veiws.