Reviews

Becoming Queen showcases an oustanding talent, from which we can expect much more', Matthew D'Ancona, Spectator Books of the Year. 

'The amazing untold story of Victoria before she was Queen...Kate Williams reveals a passionate young woman beloved of her future subjects but at war with her family', Sunday Telegraph
 
'Kate Williams has excelled herself. One is engaged from the very first line. She has perfected the art of historical biography and her pacy writing is underpinned by the most impeccable scholarship. This fresh and vivid portrayal of the young Queen Victoria is deserving of the highest praise. I cannot recommend it highly enough.' Alison Weir
 
'History as exciting and tempestuous as you are ever likely to find', Country Life
 
'Passionate, exuberant and entertaining, a treasure trove of royalty, intrigue and politics, Becoming Queen vividly and sensitively brings to life not just the girl who would be Queen but also the entire decadent, ruthless and grotesque world of the late Hanoverian court', Simon Sebag Montefiore

'An illuminating biography', Tatler, Books of the Year

'A great example...rollicking, but very well informed. The gorgeous courtly descriptions decorate a fascinating parallel portrait of two young women whose private lives were lived in the public eye. Williams brings them to life', Daily Telegraph

'Kate Williams takes us back to Victoria when she was young, beautiful and yet to succeed the throne', 5 stars, Sunday Telegraph.
 
'Full of authentic and original detail...well researched and highly readable', History Today
 
'Original and intimate', Edinburgh Evening News
 
'Kate Williams does an excellent job of counterpointing the overindulgence of the Regency era with the conscientiousness of the young Queen, just as she draws more intimate parallels between Victoria's and Charlotte's familial situation....Williams's story may be a royal one, but it is also very human, and especially tragic, as it was only by one young woman's death that the other came into being', 4 stars. Independent on Sunday

'Enchanting and enlightening....Williams brings to life this most enigmatic of queens – passionate, determined and full of surprises.
Written with the flair and readability of a novel, this is an absorbing and dramatic story of secrets, sexual repression and endless conflict. Wonderfully entertaining!' Lancashire Evening Post

'Kate Williams applies a novelist's eye for detail to this fascinating, dramatic tale of familial intrigue, deception and ambition' , Choice

''Dashing and vivid', Sunday Telegraph
 
'Detailed and sympathetic', Independent 
 
'A bracing investigation', Scotland on Sunday

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