A review by little_sparrow3
Becoming Queen Victoria: The Tragic Death of Princess Charlotte and the Unexpected Rise of Britain's Greatest Monarch by Kate Williams

4.0

I went into this book believing that I was jumping into a full biography of Queen Victoria's childhood and reign. What I got instead was half a book about her cousin Charlotte, late heir apparent to King George IV. While I didn't like Charlotte as well as Victoria, I did enjoy reading about her and her tragic death. The royal succession and the fate of the monarchy would've been very different if Charlotte had lived to take the throne. Victoria probably would've remained a footnote in history or may not have existed at all. I enjoyed learning about Charlotte and her strange Hanoverian uncles. I suppose my only disappointment is that Victoria's biography only goes up to the birth of her second child. As the second longest reigning monarch in British history, cutting off her story so early in her life leaves her later accomplishments untold. I guess I'll have to read about the later part of her life elsewhere.