I would give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
I really, really loved this book. It struck the perfect balance between situating Charlotte in the world around her and not losing focus that she is the central player. Curzon's writing style was really easy and inviting so as I was reading I didn't feel like facts were simply being flung in my direction. Curzon also did an excellent job of humanizing all of the figures in Charlotte's family without seeming to take sides in the arguments that Charlotte engaged in throughout her life and given that she was a Queen Consort in the Hanoverian Dynasty there were many.
My absolute favourite part of the book was the description of how Charlotte interacted with her daughters. Curzon did enough to make the daughters' characteristics clear and interesting without making you forget that the book was about their mother. I also think that in discussing Charlotte's relationship with her daughters Curzone really highlighted the strain that Charlotte must have been under in the situation that life presented her with. Having a husband with mental health issues at a time when it was not well understood must have been difficult enough, but the fact that he was a King with vast responsibilities did not make the situation any easier. Although, I can say that I do not agree with how Charlotte always behaved towards her daughters in particular, and her children more generally, Curzon did an excellent job of using the historical record to explain why Charlotte made the choices that she did.
The formatting of this book was very easy to follow and it helped to keep all of the main players distinct from one another, especially since there were two Charlottes and three Augustas. However, there were periods of time when it was unclear the sequence of events. I often felt that we would move forward in time and then backward. Overall this didn't necessarily detract from the story, but it did create a tiny bit of confusion for me in some instances when George III's illness was described.
Also, the foreshadowing language that things in Charlotte's life were going to get worse than what had been described got a little redundant for me. Given that her husband was George III I knew that going into the story that a happy ending wasn't necessarily in the cards, but having it repeated more than three times felt like a bit much.
That being said I found this to be a great historical biography for two reasons. One, I really feel that I learned who Queen Charlotte was as a person. That is not to say that Curzon provided a complete biographical description of every minute of Charlotte's life as that would be almost impossible for any single book to do, I felt that I understood Charlotte's upbringing and her marriage and how those two things wove together to create the Queen Consort and mother she became. The second reason I loved this book is that it made me desperate to learn more about the secondary characters in Charlotte's life as well as Charlotte herself. Cruzon did an excellent job of discussing Charlotte's daughters and the "Windsor Nunnery" and the Dowager Princess of Wales in a captivating way. Upon finishing this book I Googled books about these women to keep reading on the subject.
Whether you are interested in learning about Queen Charlotte for historical purposes or to better understand the woman who inspired the beloved Bridgerton character this book will not disappoint. Highly recommend.
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Top reviews from other countries
rousi
Such a strong couple Queen Charlotte and King George III
Reviewed in Spain on July 7, 2023
