Victoria

Inspired by the diaries of Queen Victoria, British TV producer and author Goodwin (The American Heiress) mines a rich vein of royal history with the ascension of the impetuous and imperious 18-year-old—whose sole companions were dolls and a lapdog—to the English throne in 1837. “Your subjects are not dolls to be played with. To be a queen, you have to be more than a little girl with a crown,” scolds a dying lady of the court whom Victoria has cruelly shamed. It is a heartbreaking lesson as the new monarch navigates the palace and political intrigues under the guidance of her charming and lovelorn prime minister, Lord Melbourne. It’s this relationship between the impressionable teen and her attentive middle-aged adviser that forms the irresistible emotional center of Goodwin’s rich and passionate historical novel. “When you give your heart it will be without hesitation... but you cannot give it to me,” Melbourne tells Victoria after she confesses that her prime minister is “the only companion I could ever desire.” Rejected, Victoria begins the stormy and politically fraught courtship with her German cousin and future husband, Albert. That true-life ending, however, pales in comparison to Goodwin’s timeless recounting of a young girl’s aching first love. (Dec.)