An Indiscreet Princess
Georgie Blalock
Publication date: September 27, 2022 by William Morrow & Company
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4 🍷🍷🍷🍷
Summary: From the acclaimed author of The Other Windsor Girl and The Last Debutantes comes a brilliant novel about Queen Victoria’s most rebellious and artistically talented daughter, Princess Louise, showcasing her rich life in Georgie Blalock’s signature flair.
Before Princes Margaret, before Duchess Meghan, there was Princess Louise: royal rebel.
As the fourth daughter of the perpetually in-mourning Queen Victoria, Princess Louise’s life is more a gilded prison than a fairy tale. Expected to sit quietly next to her mother with downcast eyes, Louise vows to escape the stultifying royal court. Blessed with beauty, artistic talent, and a common touch, she creates a life outside the walled-in existence of the palace grounds by attending the National Art Training School—where she shockingly learns to sculpt nude models while falling passionately in love with famed sculptor Joseph Edgar Boehm.
Although Louise cultivates artist friends, artistic success, and a life outside the palace, she quickly learns that even royal rebels must heed the call of duty. For twenty years, Louise fights to maintain her relationship with Joseph and what freedom she can glean within the strict requirements of Queen Victoria’s court. When a near fatal accident forces her back under Queen Victoria’s iron rule, Louise must choose between surrendering to the all-consuming grief of lost love and dreams that plagued her mother or finding the strength to keep fighting for her unconventional life.
My thoughts: I love how some of the other children of Queen Victoria are finally getting some love! Princess Louise was the embodiment of the middle child; she was the sixth out of nine children. One brother became a king (King Edward VII), one sister became an empress (German Empress Victoria), and another sister had two children that married into one of the most written about families in history (Princess Alice had two daughters who married into the Romanov family).
It can be argued that Princess Louise was the most outspoken and head strong of all of Queen Victoria's daughters. She possessed an exorbitant amount of artistic talent and fought to gain freedom from her oppressive mother. As she has been nurtured by her father to do so, Louise was a strong supporter of the arts and higher education.
Blalock's writing was enjoyable, as it provided vivid descriptions that didn't bog down the scene. While I believe that Blalock used a considerable amount of creative license in writing Louise's life story, I feel that in doing so she successfully embodied the passion and energy Louise had in comparison with her dour Queen mother.
I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.
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