School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Miss V Conroy is a young girl sent by her father-Sir John Conroy, the comptroller and confidant for the Princess Royal's mother-to befriend the future Queen Victoria at Kensington Palace. Victoria is stifled under a strict set of rules called the Kensington System, which keep her locked away from public view, isolated and lonely. Miss V's father assures her it is for Victoria's safety and requests that Miss V pass along details of their conversations. However, as the girls' friendship blossoms and Victoria nears the crown, Miss V begins to doubt her father's true intentions. Power struggles permeate Victoria's life with her mother and Sir John hoping to continue exerting influence and matrimonial choices, her Uncle Leopold voicing his own opinions, and Victoria wishing to be free of all of it. Worsley boasts expertise as the joint chief curator at the Historic Royal Palaces, and she speculates on Victoria's childhood and vividly brings it to life-albeit with some twists that classify this imagined perspective as an alternate history. Henrietta Meire narrates with ease, making for a pleasant listening experience. VERDICT A solid choice for libraries desiring more historical fiction that will especially appeal to fans of the British monarchy.-Megan Huenemann, Norris High School, Firth, NE © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This suspenseful, entertaining tale presents a view of the young Queen Victoria as seen through the eyes of Victoria Conroy, the shy, unobtrusive daughter of Sir John Conroy, advisor and keeper of the purse strings for Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. Known to everybody as Miss V, she is brought to Kensington Palace at the age of 11 to serve as companion to the temperamental princess and, as she soon learns, to be the eyes and ears of her powerful, plotting father. As a bond grows between the girls, Miss V becomes ever more uneasy about her father's true motives and his role in the household. Is the "Kensington System," which prohibits the princess from having contact with the outside world, truly meant to protect her? Worlsey (Maid of the King's Court) is a curator for England's historic royal palaces, and she makes good use of her expertise and her imagination to bring historical figures to life and draw readers into the novel's mid-19th-century royal world. Miss V's seven-year tenure with Victoria is marked by suspicions, tensions, revelations, and unexpected alliances; the girls' physical similarity to each other develops alongside their friendship, making for a deliciously surprising and satisfying ending. Ages 12-up. Agent: Catherine Clarke, Felicity Bryan Assoc. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
For the most part, our narrator, who we know for most of the novel only as Miss V., stays in the shadow of her companion. That companion is Princess Victoria, the girl and later young woman who's been kept in isolation by Sir John Conroy, Miss V.'s father, seemingly for her own protection. When the girls first meet, Victoria is suspicious and temperamental, but soon she and Miss V. begin to develop a deep friendship. As they grow older, Victoria resists her heritage, claiming she wants no part of the throne, and the more levelheaded Miss. V. begins to worry about the flashes of madness she sees in the friend she's come to care for as a sister. Worsley (Maid of the King's Court, 2017), the chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, digs into the details of the time period with aplomb, offering up a slice-of-life examination of pre-Victorian England. It's not quickly paced this is the story of two girls coming into themselves and their futures but for history buffs, the period details will fascinate.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2018 Booklist
