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October 17, 2016

Our Final Featured Title and Contest October 17, 2016
 
This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this fall. Read more about it, and enter our Fall Preview Contest by Tuesday, October 18th at 11:59am ET for a chance to win one of five copies of VICTORIA: THE QUEEN: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird, which releases on November 22nd. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!
 
Our Final Featured Book and Contest: VICTORIA: THE QUEEN: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire, by Julia Baird
For readers of Stacy Schiff’s CLEOPATRA and Sally Bedell Smith’s ELIZABETH THE QUEEN comes a magnificent biography of Queen Victoria. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, VICTORIA: THE QUEEN is a stunning new portrait of the real woman behind the myth --- a story of love and heartbreak, of devotion and grief, of strength and resilience.

When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would begin to threaten many of Europe’s monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public’s expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe. Born into a world where woman were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand.

Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother’s meddling and an adviser’s bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. At 20 years old, she fell passionately in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, eventually giving birth to nine children. She loved sex and delighted in power. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping boundaries and asserting her opinions. After the death of her adored Albert, she began a controversial, intimate relationship with her servant John Brown. She survived eight assassination attempts over the course of her lifetime. And as science, technology and democracy were dramatically reshaping the world, Victoria was a symbol of steadfastness and security --- queen of a quarter of the world’s population at the height of the British Empire’s reach.

Drawing on sources that include revelations about Victoria’s relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning. This sweeping, page-turning biography gives us the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen --- a Victoria for our times, a Victoria who endured.

-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to visit Julia Baird's official website.
-Connect with Julia Baird on Facebook and Twitter.

 
Click here to enter the contest by Tuesday, October 18th at 11:59am ET.

This is a special newsletter for our Fall Preview Contests, which will mail on select days throughout September and October. This newsletter is separate from our weekly Bookreporter.com newsletter, which mails every Friday. You can subscribe to that newsletter here.


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