John Van der Kiste’s Queen Victoria’s Daughters-in-Law is an interesting book about Queen Victoria’s four daughters-in-laws. All four were of royal birth, and they were supportive of charities and very dedicated to their families. I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this well-written, well-researched book. Well done!

Women’s History Month

I know a lot more about the British Royal Family than I ought to. You're probably already aware that Queen Victoria is known as the Grandmother of Europe, after she facilitated most of her children's and grandchildren's marriages. All of the European royal houses are intertwined by marriage. If you know any history at all, you'll know the British Royal Family is, in fact, mostly German.

Most of Victoria's children married Germans, or Prussians as they were commonly known as the time. Her son Bertie married a Dane, who often had issue with said Prussians encroaching on her father's territory. Another daughter in law was a Grand Duchess from Russia, who often talked about how she had married down. I'm a bit of a Russophile, and love to consume media about anything related to the Romanovs, so hearing about their eventual fall from this side of the story was quite interesting.

This book may get confusing if you're not used to reading about royal family members being called by their titles, new titles, nicknames, and married names, but as someone familiar with the time period, I followed along quite easily.

I really enjoyed this book. Lots of information regarding Queen Victoria and her children and their spouses. It was a very interesting read.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this boook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy reading anything Victorian, so I was so pleased to receive an arc of this book. So well researched, full of interesting facts. Recommended.

I am a bit of a history geek and Queen Victoria is one of my favourite Queen's as well as periods of time.

I really enjoyed this book, written in chronological order and providing lots of interesting facts and information about the women and their mother-in-law. While a fan of Victoria, being her daughter-in-law was not at all easy, as she enjoyed controlling not just her children's lives but their wives too.

I felt that the book did jump around a bit and this led to a little confusion at times, but overall it was well written and interesting.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this book and add it to my ever growing British royal family book collection. But good lord, could queen Victoria be any more controlling? I’m sure it stems from the lack of control she had as a child. There were just way too many Victorias’ thank god for family nicknames. This book did do what the author set out to do, and I appreciated that. He held to the timeline, which must have been difficult at times with so many repeated names. I was confused a few times, but I found that if I just continued reading the paragraph it quickly became clear. It can be a bit daunting reading about queen Victoria’s entire family; there are so many! I think that bothered me the most. To get to the daughters-in-law one has to read about her sons and their sisters, and their families and so on so that this book became more populated than a great Russian novel. Van der Kiste is a new author to me and I look forward to reading more.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book is full of information, but the way it is presented makes it come off as dull and too much. Everything is presented more as a list, full of titles and dates. Formatting aside, the information is interesting.

While I found this book informative and very well researched, it was also hard to keep track as it for me it seemed to jump about a lot.
I had to keep referring to the family tree.

I really liked the balance in the book. The main storyline focused on Queen Victoria and her many descendants. When it came time for one of them to marry, everything centered on the family of the daughter-in-law-to-be.
Personally, I really liked the fates of the various ladies after Queen Victoria's death. The events during her lifetime are more familiar.
Still, even this part contains a lot of interesting stories. I was intrigued that the Russian Tsar thought the Grand Duchess of Russia should take precedence over the Princess of Wales.
I enjoyed the book very much. I recommend it even if you are already familiar with the ladies. You will definitely learn something new.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Swords History for a free digital review copy. This is my honest review.

Being the daughter-in-law to Queen Victoria was no easy feat. Powerful, demanding and intimidating, Victoria was a matriarch of the highest standard - and she expected nothing short of perfection from those around her.

The four women who married into Queen Victoria's family were vastly different in personality and values, but they would be brought together as members of the British Royal Family.

Alexandra of Denmark married the heir and was known throughout for her caring personality. Grand Duchess Marie of Russia had a very mixed reputation but was perhaps the only daughter-in-law who earned the queen's respect for her sheer strength of character. Louise of Prussia married for love and yet, tragically, struggled to bond with her own children. Finally, Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont was incredibly compassionate and academic, but was doomed for a short marriage.

Van Der Kiste respectfully devotes time and effort to shining a light on these women and the book is clearly impeccably researched.

I appreciated that the book followed periods of time in which the four women lived rather than restricting each to chapters as, in my opinion, this probably allowed each woman to be viewed equally no matter the historical resource.

It was a little dry at times in narrative, and unfortunately I did find my mind wandering when I wished I could have been engrossed. However, I did find the subject interesting and learned something new so I view this as a positive!

This is a book absolutely recommended for those fascinated by the family of Queen Victoria, in particular the female side.

I have been a fan of Van der Kiste’s books for decades.
He showcases the four daughters in law of Queen Victoria. I knew the most about Alix and.Marie and the least about Louise Connaught.
He did a good job describing their lives and relationships with each other and the Queen.
I didn’t learn anything new but it’s always fun to refresh my memory with the family of Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria's Daughters-in-Law is a really interesting book! I have read several of John Van her Kiste's other biographies, and this book continues as the others and is well-researched, interesting and gets into the details and other people other than Victoria and the kings and queens around Europe who were related to her. The only of Victoria's daughter's in law that I really knew anything about was Alexandra, the consort to King Edward. It was really interesting to read about the three other European princesses that married into the Saxe-Coburg family. I had no idea that Marie, the next eldest daughter-in-law was rather spoiled and snobby, now how she was used to the astronomical wealth in the Romanov court that made assimilating to British royal family culture even harder. I also knew nothing about Louise or Helena, the other daughters-in-law, and appreciated a book that delves more into their histories and life.
I like any history book involving the lives of women, and this book is a knowledgeable, well-researched read. I think it would be a great audiobook, as well! Recommend to anyone who likes British, European, Russian, or German history, especially concentrated during the 19th and early 20th century.

In his newest book, John Van der Kiste spotlights Queen Victoria’s four daughters-in-law: Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, Princess Louise of Prussia, and Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont. While Princess Alexandra has received the most coverage, becoming Queen of England in 1901, Van der Kiste overlaps her life with that of three of her sisters-in-law, who are less discussed in the history of English royalty-by-marriage. The spotlight on the other three daughters-in-law adds to this book and gives these overshadowed women the chance to be central to a narrative. Van der Kiste breaks the book down by various time periods (mid-Victorian, late Victorian, Edwardian, and Georgian), and this organization breaks the book into manageable sections defined by clear events (as compared to having each daughter-in-law with her own chapter). While the numbering of chapters is slightly annoying (restarting the chapter numbers at 1 in each section rather than continuing to count up), the book’s organization allows the reader to easily follow four lives over a sixty-year period. Van der Kiste’s familiarity with his subject material and clear depth of knowledge and references makes this thoroughly detailed book a must-read for any reader interested in British history or the Victorian era.

John Van der Kiste is a well known author when it comes to royal biographies. His books always leave you with new knowledge and interesting facts about the royals you are reading about. And Queen Victoria's Queen Victoria's Daughters-in-Law is no different.

Queen Victoria may have been called the Grandmother of Europe due to her various grandchildren marrying into royal families all over Europe and sitting on some of the most powerful thrones, but her daughters-in- law also came from some of the top European royal houses, too.

From a Russian Tsar's only daughter to an impoverish Danish princess, readers are introduced to four women who helped to mold and rear future monarchs and leaders. Each suffered in her own way whether from straying husbands, the lost of children or being widowed early on.

Queen Victoria's Daughters-in-Law is a must read for anyone who loves the history of royalty, women's history or anything related to Queen Victoria. Or if you are just a fan of John Van der Kiste's writing.

I love reading about Queen Victoria, but I had never read anything about her daughters-in-law. The author did a wonderful job of presenting the history in a manner that did not have bias. While the book is about Alexandra, Grand Duchess Maria, Louise of Prussia, and Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont, the book dives into their relationships with the Queen. Whenever possible the author uses quotes from letters. Sometimes reading Queen Victoria's thoughts on her daughters-in-law was a bit harsh. On a side note, I thought all of their stories were interesting, but the one I loved the most was Grand Duchess Maria. I feel hers was by far the most captivating having come from the Russian court. Personally, I can't imagine how difficult it was for Grand Duchess Maria to find her place in the English royal family.

DNF @ 35%

This was a brick to try and get through. Gigantic blocks of text, dull narration and the names and titles really confused me. It also had a bit of typos and repeating words, I understand I was reading an ARC but still. Generally I can easily read historical books but this one was a struggle and I just couldn't keep going. The research does seem solid so I don't want to discourage anyone who is really interested in the subject.

Imagine being a daughter-in-law to demanding and controlling Queen Victoria whose words were law. She had four fascinating daughters-in-law, all of high international standing. Only Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna was not intimidated but the other three understandably were. Evidently, however, they all admired their mother in law. The engrossing book is divided into five eras, The Early Victorian Years, The Mid-Victorian Years, The Later Victorian Years, The Edwardian Era and The Georgian Era. Photographs are insightful and incredible. Some women married for love, others for geopolitical ties.

Alexandra (Alix), daughter of soon-to-be King Christian IX of Denmark, married Edward for love...and it was mutual. She suffered illnesses including premature deafness and an infuriating limp which became affectionately known and emulated as the "Alexandra limp". She was caring, selfless and warmhearted. Grand Duchess Marie, daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia married Alfred. She was intelligent, defied convention (breastfed children which was looked upon with horror by Queen Victoria) and at times her Russian roots became problematic as she held a certain disdain for Britain. However, she was cheerful. Louise of Prussia was the niece of William I and married Arthur for love. She was upright and frank and though had difficulty with bonding with her children, her husband helped her. Helen, sister of the Queen Consort of the Netherlands married Leopold. She had an enquiring mind and enjoyed solving mathematical problems. Their marriage was sadly very short. Helen showed compassion to others suffering heartache and liked "to go among the people".
Some married for love, others were geopolitical matches. Though rich and powerful, they all experienced grief and sorrow.

Author John Van der Kiste did a fantastic job of tying in the histories of these women before they met their future husbands and mother-in-law. Though I have read a lot about the Victorian era in general, it was wonderful to dive deeper into the lives of the women who married Queen Victoria's sons, especially all in one book.

Intrigued by these young women, their families and influence? You cannot miss this book, perfect for Nonfiction readers who seek to learn more about the ins and outs of royal life in these years. The author's copious research shows!

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this mesmerizing and riveting book which drew me in so much the rest of my evening was spent researching these women and their families to learn more.

I've read a few of Van der Kiste's other books about royals and have always been fairly well-impressed. Every thing is backed by detailed and thorough research. In this case, a look at 4 women, from different different situations throughout Europe and Russia was fascinating. Van der Kiste did not tell each story in isolation, but rather interwove them as the historical timeline allowed.

This book reads a bit academic, but "fans" of history, and particularly Victorian history will enjoy it nonetheless.

An interesting story about the reign of Queen Victoria. Although the title says her “daughters-in-law” it really didn’t stay focused on them. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

A very enjoyable book to read as other than the first daughter in law (Alexandra) I can’t say i knew about the others, so from a history point of view it was a good read. It was then interesting to read about the various connections that Queen Victoria’s offspring’s had thought Europe so when WW1 came round it was almost a case of relative v relative depending on which branch the offspring had originated from!