Victoria's Daughters

By: Jerrold M. Packard

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Vicky, Alice, Helena, and Beatrice were historically unique sisters, born to a sovereign who ruled over a quarter of the earth's people and who gave her name to an era: Queen Victoria. Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would curiously come to share many of the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by 19th-century women of less-exulted class.

Principally researched at the houses and palaces of its five subjects in London, Scotland, Berlin, Darmstadt, and Ottawa - and entertainingly written by an experienced biographer whose last book concerned Victoria's final days - Victoria's Daughters closely examines a generation of royal women who were dominated by their mother, married off as much for political advantage as for love, and finally passed over entirely with the accession of their brother Bertie to the throne. Jerrold M. Packard provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as daughters of their time.

©1998 Jerrold M. Packard (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[An] engaging group biography...Packard's narrative is accessible, unpretentious and solidly written." ( Publishers Weekly)

This book was written without punctuation

From the way this book was read it appears it was written without punctuation. Additionally the narrator had the distracting habit of raising her voice on two of the final vowels of each phrase before she took a breath. The story itself is fascinating although Queen Victoria is portrayed less reverentially than in other biographies of her that I have read. Overall I am glad I stuck with the book, but I hope not to listen to another book with the same narrator.

Quite Good

Might be the best job of reading I’ve heard so far. Flawless performance. I’ll probably need to listen again to catch it all.

Victoria revisited

I love history! This was presented very well in chronological order. Impressive and very informative.

Purely Historical account

Good, detailed book about the history of her children. The narrator was great, the content a little boring but interesting.

concise history

focused history of royal family with mention of surrounding historical events if they immediately impacted family

Informative but got lost

The overall writing was great and history phenomenal! However, I had to restart some bits as I had lost track of the information before or the relation of persons. This happened several times and made the story lose a little of its luster for me personally. Enjoyed the narrator as well!

Very informative

I liked getting to know more about personalities, struggles and accomplishments of the Royal family.

Pleasant and informative

This was enjoyable to listen to and provided me with many facts I never knew.

Well Documented

I read the physical book years ago and wanted to listen to it again. Big mistake. The narrator is awful - a monotone who completely ignores punctuation marks.

More Modulation Needed

Interesting but dry, not enough pausing to separate chapters,change of thought, situation & place.