Search results for ""Author Victoria"

You've seen her on the screen, now read her story...From the creator of the ITV Sunday night drama, VICTORIA, now in its second year, comes the novel by Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling MY LAST DUCHESS and THE FORTUNE HUNTER.In June 1837, the eighteen-year-old Victoria wakes up to find that she is Queen of the most powerful nation in the world. Can this tiny girl prevail against the men who believe that women are too hysterical to rule? And what are the secrets behind her famously passionate relationship with her husband, Albert?From one of our greatest historical writers comes a new take on one of our most beloved monarchs... Victoria as you've never seen her before.

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It's 1829, and young Princess Victoria's life is full of constraints. Brought up hidden from the world and protected even from walking downstairs alone, the ten-year-old princess decides to write a secret diary about life at Kensington Palace. But little does she know that she is about to make a startling discovery. Closer to the throne than she ever imagined, My Story: Victoria spans a fascinating year in the life of a future queen. Experience history first-hand with My Story in this all-new look! Other titles in the My Story series include: My Story: Titanic My Story: The Trenches My Story: The Great Plague My Story: Berlin Olympics My Story: Blitz My Story: Mayflower My Story: Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan My Story: D-Day My Story: A Picture of Freedom My Story: Roman Invasion My Story: Ignatius Sancho

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As a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Essie’s dreams are very much at odds with her reality. Ashamed of her beginnings, but unwilling to accept the path currently available to her, Essie is trapped between the life she has and the life she wants. Until she meets a lady named Dorcas Vashon, the richest and most cultured black woman she’s ever encountered. When Dorcas makes Essie an offer she can’t refuse, she becomes Victoria. Transformed by a fine wardrobe, a classic education, and the rules of etiquette, Victoria is soon welcomed in the upper echelons of black society in Washington, D. C. But when the life she desires is finally within her grasp, Victoria must decide how much of herself she is truly willing to surrender.

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Victoria & Abdul tells the extraordinary true story of Queen Victoria's relationship with Abdul Karim, her Muslim manservant, who travelled from India to present a ceremonial medal as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee but within months became her personal teacher of Urdu and dedicated spiritual advisor. The unprecedented and unlikely friendship caused meltdown within the royal household, the ensuing battle royale pitting the Queen against the court and her entire family. Through the prism of a highly unusual love story, Lee Hall's Victoria & Abdul, based on the book by Shrabani Basu, explores race, religion, power and the farce of empire through the prism of a highly unusual love story.

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An in-depth historical study of the Cotswold market town of Chipping Norton and of half a dozen surrounding rural parishes, including Hook Norton and the Rollrights.

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Creativity isn't all about individual inspiration and work. It sparks from the cross-fertilisation of energy and imaginations and ideas, and thrives in institutional, social and cultural places that recognise the worth of cultural activity and creative expression, and that make room for and foster it. Over 119 years (and counting) Victoria University has made huge contributions to the cultural and creative life of Wellington and New Zealand, and beyond-in music, art, theatre, film, architecture, creative literature and publishing. It has actively sought to encourage creative thinking and creative expression-in a diversity of forms, across a diversity of fields-and to establish the creative arts as not only a legitimate but a vital part of the institution and its work. This is a story not only of the creative activity that has come out of Victoria, but also of the university's role as a custodian of cultural treasures, and of its engagement with creative and cultural life beyond its doors. It is a rich and distinctive history, one of which the University of Wellington can be proud.

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In 2001, a woman’s skeleton was found in the woods overlooking Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital. Despite an audit of the hospital’s patient records, a forensic reconstruction of the woman’s face, missing-person appeals, and DNA tests that revealed not only where she had lived, but how she ate, the woman was never identified. Assigned the name Madame Victoria, her remains were placed in a box in an evidence room and, eventually, forgotten. But not by Catherine Leroux, who constructs in her form-bending Madame Victoria twelve different histories for the unknown woman. Like musical variations repeating a theme, each Victoria meets her end only after Leroux resurrects her, replacing the anonymous circumstances of her death with a vivid re-imagining of her possible lives. And in doing so, Madame Victoria becomes much more than the story of one unknown and unnamed woman: it becomes a celebration of the lives and legacies of unknown women everywhere. By turns elegiac, playful, poignant, and tragic, Madame Victoria is an unforgettable book about the complexities of individual lives and the familiar ways in which they overlap.

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Queen Victoria (4 May 1819 - 22 Jan 1901) is the UK's second longest-reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II, with 64 years between becoming queen in 1837 and her death in 1901. This book describes her extraordinary life and reign, her strength and achievements. 24 May 2019 is the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth.

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'The truth was stranger than any of the fictions that have since been offered to explain her away'Drawing upon Queen Victoria's previously unpublished journals, Elizabeth Longford's classic biography recalls the contrasts and curiosities of an earlier era with exquisite detail - and transforms the queen from a severe, time-worn effigy into a human being who loved, feared and fumed. Longford probes the contradictions of a woman who wore a bonnet instead of a crown at her Golden Jubilee and yet was recognised always as both dignified and formidable. She chronicles both the Queen's public life and her emotional travails, including surprisingly stormy passages in her and Prince Albert's otherwise loving marriage. A refreshingly human image of the Queen emerges: voluble, passionate, politic and articulate, with an irresistible mixture of grandeur and simplicity.'Dazzlingly readable, and very enjoyable' Stella Gibbons'Queen Victoria has in Lady Longford her fullest and best-informed, most sensible and sympathetic biographer' The Times'Gives us more than the general reader has ever had, revealing the Queen as a character at once simple and complex, authoritarian and humble' Daily Telegraph

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'Original, thought-provoking' - Elizabeth Macneal'a delightful read . . . beautifully observed' - Daily MailMona and Wolfie have lived on Victoria Park for over fifty years. Now, on the eve of their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary, they must decide how to navigate Mona's declining health. Bookended by the touching exploration of their love, Victoria Park follows the disparate lives of twelve people over the course of a single year. Told from their multiple perspectives in episodes which capture feelings of alienation and connection, the lingering memory of an acid attack in the park sends ripples of unease through the community. By the end of the novel, their carefully interwoven tales create a rich tapestry of resilience, love and loss.With sharply observed insight into contemporary urban life, and characters we take to our hearts, Gemma Reeves has written a moving, uplifting debut which reflects those universal experiences that connect us all.

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'Original, thought-provoking' - Elizabeth Macneal'a delightful read . . . beautifully observed' - Daily MailMona and Wolfie have lived on Victoria Park for over fifty years. Now, on the eve of their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary, they must decide how to navigate Mona's declining health. Bookended by the touching exploration of their love, Victoria Park follows the disparate lives of twelve people over the course of a single year. Told from their multiple perspectives in episodes which capture feelings of alienation and connection, the lingering memory of an acid attack in the park sends ripples of unease through the community. By the end of the novel, their carefully interwoven tales create a rich tapestry of resilience, love and loss.With sharply observed insight into contemporary urban life, and characters we take to our hearts, Gemma Reeves has written a moving, uplifting debut which reflects those universal experiences that connect us all.

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In a searing historical novel, Tonya Bolden illuminates post-Reconstruction America in an intimate portrait of a determined young woman who dares to seize the opportunity of a lifetime. As a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Essie’s dreams are very much at odds with her reality. Ashamed of her beginnings, but unwilling to accept the path currently available to her, Essie is trapped between the life she has and the life she wants. Until she meets a lady named Dorcas Vashon, the richest and most cultured black woman she’s ever encountered. When Dorcas makes Essie an offer she can’t refuse, she becomes Victoria. Transformed by a fine wardrobe, a classic education, and the rules of etiquette, Victoria is soon welcomed in the upper echelons of black society in Washington, D. C. But when the life she desires is finally within her grasp, Victoria must decide how much of herself she is truly willing to surrender.

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A vivid portrait of Queen Victoria’s childhood, offering new insights into one of the most celebrated, but often misunderstood, monarchs in British history, 200 years after her birth This beautiful, extensively researched volume investigates the birth and early life of one of the most familiar British monarchs, Queen Victoria (1819–1901). A wealth of material, including many unexamined sources and unpublished images, sheds new light on Victoria’s youth. Included here are portraits of the queen as princess, childhood diaries and sketchbooks, clothing, jewelery, and correspondence. Deirdre Murphy paints a vivid picture of Victoria’s early years. Among her most surprising conclusions is the idea that the queen’s personal mythology of a childhood characterized by sadness and isolation is less accurate than is generally thought. Victoria’s personal relationships are brought brilliantly to life, from her affectionate but increasingly suffocating bond with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, to the controlling influence of Sir John Conroy, a man she came to despise, and her courtship with Prince Albert. Lesser-known figures are also explored, including Victoria’s first schoolmaster the Reverend George Davys, her governess Louise Lehzen, and her half-sister Feodora. This fascinating cast of characters enhances our image of Victoria, who emerges as both willful and submissive, fickle and affectionate, and with the explosive temper of her Hanoverian ancestors. Published in association with Historic Royal PalacesExhibition Schedule:Kensington Palace (May 24—December 2019)

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This mischievous roman a clef revolves around the interactions of five main characters. Victoria, barely twenty, finds herself acting as amanuensis to Laurence, an elderly man of letters, now blind, who lives in a ravishing house by the sea in northern Italy. Soon after her arrival, she indulges in a heady night of passion with Edgar, a youthful Englishman. Their subsequent union introduces Edgar's pretentious mother Lettice, who is jealous and suspicious of her daughter-in-law's prettiness and her ability to amuse Lettice's intellectual friends. While Victoria struggles to adapt to her new surroundings, Lettice, in a bid to maintain her own social superiority, attempts to thwart her every move in hilarious fashion. Enter Archie, one of the inner circle, whose relationship with Victoria provokes a scandal that threatens to destroy her. Darkly funny and deeply insightful, Lettice & Victoria is not just a love story with a fanciful and flawed female protagonist, but a wonderful portrait of English society.

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Victoria es una lectora voraz.Sueña con duelos y persecuciones,misiones peligrosas en Siberia y con que un alienígena se lleve a su hermana para siempre. Por desgracia, vive en el pueblo más tranquilo y aburrido del mundo.Sin embargo, de repente empiezan a ocurrir cosas inexplicables:su amigo Jo está trás la pista de tres pieles rojas, sus libros van desapareciendo de la estantería de su habitación y una noche sorprende a un vaquero conduciendo el coche de su padre.Definitivamente, algo extraordinario está por sucederle.

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James Monroe is a sophisticated American professional on mission for The World Bank in Africa during the early 1990's. Despite his worldiness, his actions betray a late twentieth century innocent abroad who embodies both the bravado and the debilitating insecurities of the modern American male. Set in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bombay, India, Mr. Monroe's journey into authenticity results in a series of failed relationships that reveal the dark, enigmatic recesses of his complex personality and eventually land him in a hellhole prison in Bombay. His tragedy unfolds into an ending that no one, especially Monroe, could have possibly predicted or imagined. In its exploration of American male stereotypes and in its suggestion of vulnerability as a key to masculine authenticity, Victoria Falls dares to embrace those humane qualities of love, kindness and creativity that have of late been extolled as the provenance of soul searching women but have been largely ignored in American fiction about men.

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‘He seems perfection and I think that I have the prospect of very great happiness before me…’ Victoria in a letter of 15 October 1839 One of the greatest royal love matches of all time was that of Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert. The English princess, born at Kensington Palace in 1819, and the German prince were cousins, and first met when Victoria was 16. At their second meeting in 1839 she, by now Queen Victoria, proposed to him and they married the following year. Victoria and Albert’s romance marked a turning point for Britain’s royal family, and to the queen in particular love and marriage proved a source of strength and comfort. The two young people were brought together, like so many royal couples, by the scheming of matchmakers. The aftermath was not always easy. Albert’s adopted country remained wary of his intelligence and seriousness, most people as unaware of his private playfulness as they were of the contrasting aspects of Victoria’s own character. Victoria and Albert tells of a young couple’s love: how the two grew up, what they were like, how they first met. Love deepened within their marriage, as they became partners in private and in public, at home with their family and ever on duty as sovereign and consort. This beautifully illustrated book is part of the Pitkin Royal Collection series, celebrating the lives of the British royal family. Other notable titles in this insightful series include Royal Babies, The Queen and Her Family and Queen Elizabeth II.

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La Victòria és una lectora voraç. Somia amb duels i persecucions, missions perilloses a Sibèria i amb què un alienígena s?emporti la seva germana per sempre.Per desgràcia, viu a Chaise-sur-le Pont, el lloc més tranquil i avorrit del món.Però un dia, de sobte, comencen a succeir coses inexplicables: el seu amic Jo està investigant la pista de tres xeienes, els seus llibres desapareixen de l?estanteria de la seva habitació i una nit sorprèn un cowboy conduint el cotxe del seu pare.Definitivament, alguna cosa extraordinària ha de succeir.

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'Writing about Queen Victoria has been one of the most joyous experiences of my life. I have read thousands (literally) of letters never before published, and grown used to her as to a friend. Maddening? Egomaniac? Hysterical? A bad mother? Some have said so. What emerged for me was a brave, original woman who was at the very epicentre of Britain's changing place in the world: a solitary woman in an all-male world who understood politics and foreign policy much better than some of her ministers; a person possessed by demons, but demons which she was brave enough to conquer. Above all, I became aware, when considering her eccentric friendships and deep passions, of what a loveable person she was.' A. N. Wilson

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Explore the world of a young Queen Victoria in this captivating novel for children and young adults from popular television historian Lucy Worsley. ‘You are my sister now,’ Victoria said, quietly and solemnly. ‘Never forget it. I love you like a sister, and you are my only friend in all the world.’ Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Miss V’s father has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess, which he calls the Kensington System. It governs her behaviour and keeps her locked away from the world. He says it is for the princess’s safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it is to keep her lonely, and unhappy. Torn between loyalty to her father and her growing friendship with the wilful and passionate Victoria, Miss V has a decision to make: to continue in silence, or to speak out. By turns thrilling, dramatic and touching, this is the story of Queen Victoria’s childhood as you’ve never heard it before.

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VICTORIA CROSS HEROES tells the stories of over 150 individuals whose bravery has earned them the Victoria Cross, Britain's most prestigious medal for courage in action. The book is introduced by Michael Ashcroft, who owns over ten per cent of all VCs ever awarded. He explains the history of the medal and the story of his fascination with it. The main text of the book tells the stories of both those recipients whose medals are in his collection and those whose stories featured in the television series. Each chapter covers a different conflict, from the Crimean War to Iraq.

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Little seems to have changed since Queen Victoria's day in the instant magnetism of British royalty across the Atlantic Ocean; yet for the first generations liberated by revolution, the British Isles and its sovereigns seemed as remote as the moon. In the young nation, Americans who were little interested in the sons and daughters of their last king, George III, developed a love-hate relationship with Victoria, his granddaughter, that lasted for all her sixty-four years on the throne, ending only with her death in the first weeks of the twentieth century. Victoria's long reign encompassed much of the time in which the young United States was growing up. The responses of Americans toward Victoria reveal not only what they thought of her (and her husband) as a person and a monarch, but reflect their own ambitions, confidence, smugness, insecurities-and sense of loss. Parting from England brought a surge of pride, but it also carried with it an unanticipated price. American encounters with Queen Victoria as person and as symbol evoke the costs of relinquishing a history, a tradition, a ceremonial texture. The brash, bewildered and beguiled Americans in these pages, from lion tamer Isaac Van Amburgh, Barnum's midget "Tom Thumb" and sharpshooter Annie Oakley, to literary lions like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain and Henry James evince not only another dimension of the remote woman who might have been their queen, but what Americans were like, and what they thought they were like, in her time.

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A giftable set of two graphic novels from bestselling and Newbery-Honor-winning author Victoria JamiesonVictoria Jamieson's Newbery-Honor-winning and New York Times bestselling Roller Girl and her critically acclaimed All's Faire in Middle School are now available together, in a slipcase set.Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson's graphic novel debut, earned a Newbery Honor and five starred reviews. It's an inspiring coming-of-age story about friendship, perseverance, and girl power! For most of her twelve years, Astrid has done everything with her best friend Nicole. But after Astrid falls in love with roller derby and signs up for derby camp, Nicole decides to go to dance camp instead. And so begins the most difficult summer of Astrid's life as she struggles to keep up with the older girls at camp, hang on to the friend she feels slipping away, and cautiously embark on a new friendship...and be strong enough to be a roller girl!All's Faire in Middle School earned three starred reviews and was a New York Times Editor's Choice. It perfectly--and authentically--captures the bittersweetness of middle school life with humor, warmth, and understanding. Eleven-year-old Imogene (Impy) has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she's eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she'll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Impy has just the quest in mind--she'll go to public school after a life of being homeschooled! But it's not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school.

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Queen Victoria was the longest ever reigning British monarch and saw extraordinary developments during her reign, from the development of the railways to the discoveries of Charles Darwin.Discover the stories of people who have helped to shape history, ranging from early explorers such as Christopher Columbus to more modern figures like Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.These chapter books combine historical fact with engaging narrative and humourous illustration, perfect for the newly independent reader.

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Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in British history. In this concise biography, Lady Longford, long recognised as an authority on the subject, gives a full account of Queen Victoria's life and provides her unique assessment of the monarch. Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 on the death of her uncle William IV. In 1840 she married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and for the next twenty years they were inseparable. Their descendants were to succeed to most of the thrones of Europe. When Albert died in 1861 Victoria's overwhelming grief caused her to almost withdraw from public life for several years. This perceived dereliction of public duty, coupled with rumours about her relationship with her Scottish ghillie, John Brown, led to increasing criticism. Coaxed back into the public eye by Disraeli, she resumed her political and constitutional interest with vigour until her death in 1901.

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'It had been so long since Victoria Stitch had done anything dangerous . . . And she would need dangerous and forbidden magic for an adventure like this . . .' Victoria Stitch is finally Queen of Wiskling Wood, along with her sister Celestine. She is also proud aunt to Princess Minnie Stitch-diamond baby and next in line to the throne. When old enemies resurface and kidnap Minnie, Victoria Stitch is intent on revenge. It's time for her to ride again and remind these Wisklings that Victoria Stitch is undeniable, incredible, and almost certainly unstoppable.

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Lonely Planet’s Vancouver & Victoria is our most comprehensive guide that extensively covers all the region has to offer, with recommendations for both popular and lesser-known experiences. Shop for vintage shoes in quirky Gastown, hit the powdered slopes of Grouse Mountain and sample an Indian Pale Ale in a hidden microbrewery - all with your trusted travel companion.Inside Lonely Planet’s Vancouver & Victoria Travel Guide: What’s NEW in this edition?Up-to-date information - all businesses were rechecked before publication to ensure they are still open after 2020’s COVID-19 outbreakNEW top experiences feature - a visually inspiring collection of Vancouver and Victoria’s best experiences and where to have them What's NEW feature taps into cultural trends and helps you find fresh ideas and cool new areas NEW Accommodations feature gathers all the information you need to plan your accommodationHighlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interestsEating & drinking in Vancouver and Victoria - we reveal the dishes and drinks you have to tryColor maps and images throughoutInsider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spotsHonest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks missCultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, politicsOver 40 maps Covers West End, Gastown, Chinatown, Granville Island, Whistler, Victoria, the Southern Gulf Islands, and moreThe Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet’s Vancouver & Victoria, our most comprehensive guide to the region, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled. Visiting Vancouver for a week or less? Lonely Planet’s Pocket Vancouver guide is a handy-sized guide focused on the city’s can’t-miss experiences.About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveler since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travelers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' – New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveler's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' – Fairfax Media (Australia)

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This latest volume in the history of Northamptonshire covers the history of its industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including, of course, its most celebrated products: boots and shoes. Particular attention is givento the impact of industrial development upon the infrastructure, topography and environment of the county.

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Agustín busca desesperado a Victoria entre las galerías del mercado de Atarazanas. Allí fue donde el sábado se topó con ella tras casi un año de ausencia. Victoria es el punto de partida de la historia, un año y medio atrás, cuando ella -fantástica Venus en el atrio de una iglesia con cuerpo de página derecha de revista pornográfica- se cruza con él por la Alameda. Él no puede dormir junto a su esposa pensando en ella, en la modelo fotografiada desnuda, lasciva e incitante junto al castillo de Gibralfaro. Agustín busca entre sus revistas pornográficas hasta que encuentra las fotografías de Victoria y su vida explota por la obsesión de volver a encontrase con ella. La vida conyugal se resiente por las escapadas nocturnas de Agustín buscando a Victoria y porque ha sustituido el coito con su mujer por una vida sexual paralela con la revista pornográfica. Agustín es un Ulises que no busca su Itaca, sino a Victoria.

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Cleley comprises a dozen parishes in the south on either side of Watling Street, and includes the royal estate, the honor of Grafton. This new volume, the first to be published for Northamptonshire since 1937, deals with a group of a dozen parishes in the south of the county, on either side of Watling Street between Towcester and Stony Stratford. Essentially a group of typical Midland open-field parishes, the main interest of the area lies in the creation of a great royal estate, the honor of Grafton, in 1542, which occupied about half the hundred. In 1706 the honor passed to the secondDuke of Grafton under a grant made by his grandfather, Charles II. The dukes remained the principal owners in the district until a series of sales just after the First World War.Researched with the thoroughness for which the Victoria County History has long been well known, and illustrated with numerous maps and plates, this volume will be of great interest to local residents who wish to know about the past history of their community, and also to a widerange of academic readers, especially historians interested in landed estates between the sixteenth and the twenty-first century.

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A shy, rule-following teen joins a local rock band and finds herself caught between staying on the path she’s always known and straying off-course to find love, adventure, and danger in this novel that’s perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell.Victoria Cruz inhabits two worlds: In one, she is a rock star, thrashing the stage with her husky voice and purple-streaked hair. In the other, currently serving as her reality, Victoria is a shy teenager with overprotective Cuban parents, who sleepwalks through her life at the prestigious Evanston Academy. Unable to overcome the whole paralyzing-stage-fright thing, Victoria settles for living inside her fantasies, where nothing can go wrong and everything is set to her expertly crafted music playlists. But after a chance encounter with an unattainably gorgeous boy named Strand, whose band seeks a lead singer, Victoria is tempted to turn her fevered daydreams into reality. To do that, she must confront her insecurities and break away from the treadmill that is her life. Suddenly, Victoria is faced with the choice of staying on the path she’s always known and straying off-course to find love, adventure, and danger. From debut author Janelle Milanes comes a hilarious and heartfelt tale of the spectacular things that can happen when you go after what you really want.

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'I want to be me! The glorious glittering me . . . People like me here Celestine! They adore me!' Victoria Stitch has escaped from the confines of Wiskling Wood and flown into the human world. Here, she breaks the most sacred of all wiskling laws and speaks to a human. Where she is feared and disgraced in Wiskling Wood, she is adored and revered in the human world. But the net is closing in. There are wisklings who would like to end Victoria Stitch's famous reign in the human world for good. Will her beloved twin, Celestine, be able to warn her in time? And even if she can, will Victoria Stitch listen?

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Princess Victoria Melita played a colourful role from her birth in 1876. The second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, she made a brief and unhappy marriage at the age of 17 to her cousin, Ernest, Grand Duke of Hesse. In the face of strong opposition from her family she divorced him seven years later and married another cousin, Grand Duke Cyril of Russia, resulting in three years of exile. When revolution toppled the empire in 1917, the Grand Duke and Duchess and their children escaped to Finland, living in danger for three long years. Following the atrocities of the Bolsheviks at the time, including the murder of most of the Romanov family, the Grand Duke believed he was the senior surviving member of the imperial house, and proclaimed himself Tsar. However, they were never able to return to their homeland, and the Grand Duchess died in exile in 1936. Using previously unpublished correspondence from the Royal Archives and Astor papers, this is a portrait of the Princess, set against the imperial courst of the turn of the 20th century and inter-war Europe.

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'The crystal keeper gazed around him at the shards of impure crystal, glittering furiously on the floor, and shivered with a terrible sense of foreboding.' Twins, Victoria Stitch and Celestine, are denied their royal birth-right. Celestine accepts the decision with good grace, but Victoria Stitch is consumed with her obsession for power. The twins are like moonlight and sunshine - could it be possible to break free of the role you have been given, rewrite your story, and change your own destiny?

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The first book to survey the work of this iconic designer, known for her serene "new American classic" look. One of today’s most influential designers, Victoria Hagan exploded onto the scene in 1988 when New York magazine devoted the cover of its design issue to one of her rooms. Since then she has become renowned for her intelligent integration of architectural and interior design, her refined use of materials, her sophisticated color palette, and her strong silhouettes. Always looking to the view, Hagan effortlessly makes a close connection of interior spaces to the surrounding landscape. The houses profiled—ranging from elegant urban residences to casual weekend retreats—reveal Hagan’s unerring attention to what Proust called "the unexpected detail," which makes her interiors beautiful as well as timeless. Throughout, Hagan discourses on the spirit of cherished objects—a print of birds in flight, a vintage star-shaped mirror, or a chair with an unusual silhouette—that add soul and modernity. With stunning photography and personal insights into Hagan’s design philosophy, Victoria Hagan: Interior Portraits is an artful and inspiring collection of this design superstar’s oeuvre.

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Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian Era, a period of industrial, cultural, scientific, and political change that was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. But Victoria was raised under close supervision and near isolation until she became Queen of the United Kingdom at the young age of 18. She married her first cousin, Albert, and had nine children who married into families across Europe. By the time she had earned the nickname "The Grandmother of Europe" and the title "Empress of India" it was indeed true that the sun never set on the British Empire.

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Christopher Hibbert’s acclaimed biography of Queen Victoria is as impressive and authoritative as the great woman herself. In 1837 an eighteen-year-old girl, raised by a German mother, inherited the throne of the United Kingdom. She was to reign as queen – and later Empress of India – for almost sixty-four years, presiding over twenty prime ministers and a period of unprecedented social and political change. Her era became synonymous with moral rigidity and colonial expansion, and this absorbing biography of Queen Victoria, the unlikely figurehead of a vast and powerful empire, explores how the young monarch transformed herself into a formidable matriarch and the epitome of an age. Embracing her life and family, her politics and personality, her love for Prince Albert and her relationship with John Brown, Hibbert’s touching biography is a persuasive portrait of a remarkable woman.

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