The Wild Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Defiant Daughter
By Mary Hart Perry

I came across a review of this book on another blog and was intrigued, plus this is how the book was hyped on Mary Hart Perry's page:

Fact: In 1871, Princess Louise (Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s fourth daughter) had a reputation for being the “wild child” of the family. She insisted upon mixing socially with commoners and being trained in London as a professional artist at a time when girls were denied the same education as boys. The nerve of her! 
So…what is a princess to do when she longs to break out of Buckingham Palace and follow her dream—but her mother marries her off to a man who can’t return her love?

Maybe it's because I've always had an interest in historical fiction, or because I've been reading a ton of non-fiction, but this book was the perfect read leading up to the holiday weekend (I finished it before Thanksgiving).

Now in all fairness, there are many points that probably aren't historically accurate, but in my mind that is why it is a piece of fiction. But if you are one of those people who wants your historical fiction to have more facts than not, this probably isn't for you.

Also if you have a moral objection to books where the main conflict centers around a marital affair or premarital sex, then you might not want to read this book. As the whole plot follows Princess Louise as she finds herself in a prearranged marriage to a man who is (secretly) gay and tries to find a way to live her life in the public eye in such a loveless marriage.

I loved Perry's ability to bring these characters to life was superb - granted she was able to draw on history to help - but between the descriptions of the settings and clothing, every time I started reading I was pulled out my cozy reading spot, and into Princess Louise's world.

And what a world she lived in. She was full of spunk and independence. Both of which were gifts that allowed her to stay away from depression once she realized she had been sentenced to a marriage that would keep her from having the family she always dreamed of.

To add some interest to this story Stephen Bryne, AKA the Raven, has taken a job as part of the queen's secret service. Bryne, an American, finds himself in charge of the safety of the royal family as the Irish rebels have taken on the task of trying to kidnap the queen in order to demand independence. He is the unlikely main character at the beginning, but slowly his personality grows on you and Princess Louise for that matter. By the end of the book I was (ashamedly) totally on his side! You'll have to read this book to see what happens...

Overall this book was a fairly quick read, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great historical fiction story that will draw you into it.

Reading List rating:






Have you read The Wild Princess? Let me know what you thought.  Do you love historical fiction - if so how much leeway do you give the author with creative freedom of historical facts?










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