Random Jottings

Serving Victoria - Kate Hubbard

I seem to have fallen into a period of Victorian/Edwardian history reading at the moment.   This was quite by accident and not planned, rather that interesting books covering this period have arrived in one fell swoop.  Not complaining, au contraire, this is my favourite area of history so am thoroughly enjoying it.

Bertie by Jane Ridley just before Christmas, then the wonderful programme on the BBC on Queen Victoria's Children which I loved and now, Serving Victoria by Jane Hubbard, the sub title of which is Life in the Royal Household which I finished the other day.   It is simply wonderfully readable and totally engrossing and so interesting to read the view of the Queen taken by her household.

As you all know by now, I love Queen Victoria, warts and all and what is most disarming about her is her self-knowledge and her admission that she can be headstrong and dictatorial and can get things wrong.  Takes a brave man or woman however to tell her so, but those who did found that she usually backed down and even apologised for her behaviour.   While I think Albert kept her conscious of her faults and her temperament and rages, he also rather squashed the side of her that loved life and as the years passed and her grief lessened its intensity, she began to enjoy herself more.  On her own terms of course, she planned what she wanted to do and the household had to jog along behind whether it was suffering tedious boring evenings where no contentious subjects were allowed for discussions at the dining table, to long carriage drives in the cold and the wet, the Queen impervious to the elements, or being constantly on call so that exhaustion set in.  The Queen's maids were constantly being sent home in a state of nervous collapse because they were up and down all night keeping an eye on Her Maj and answering her calls. They also slept on the sofa...

Sarah Lyttleton who supervised the nursery and all of the children was in royal service all her life and the excerpts from her diaries and letters are fascinating; Charlotte Canning a lady of the Bedchamber who reluctantly went to India with her husband and longed to return and who, tragically, died just as she was about to embark on her much longer for journey home; Mary Ponsonby a Maid of Honour married to Henry Ponsonby, one of Albert's equerries who loyally served his Queen until his death; Sir James Reid her doctor and many more are featured in this delightful book and they all have their own view of their mistress.

The Queen relied on her household for companionship and comfort and time and time again she stresses her loneliness. We must remember that after Albert's death she said 'There is nobody to call me Victoria now' and she leant heavily on those around her for support.   After the portrayal of the Queen on the BBC the other week as a mother who rather disliked her children I feel I must quote from a letter written to Charlotte Canning after the death of her mother 'I have so much to thank God for. Such a husband - such affectionate children that I will not murmur at what I have lost'. 

Charlotte described the Queen's letter as 'simple and true' and says that the Queen 'has had credit for qualities not hers and that nobody knew what real softness and feelings she has in some ways'.   Lovely to read this.

The charm of this book is seeing another side to Victoria and I find this from Henry Ponsonby on trying to persuade the Queen of a certain point of view, as rather amusing. In response to his wife accusing him of having no opinions and not standing up to the Queen he takes a rather pragmatic view: "She says 2 and 2 make 5. I humbly point out that no doubt she has some good reason for thinking so but I cannot help but think they make 4.   She replies that there may be some truth in what I say but she knows they make 5. Thereupon I drop the discussion..."

After a particularly wearing and difficult time her doctor James Reid had to take time off as he was suffering from exhaustion. A letter from Her Majesty greatly distressed at his becoming ill 'from the worry I caused you the last few months and especially the last week which might all have been prevented but for my senselessness and want of thought'.  

Her sense of humour.  Fritz Ponsonby, son of Henry, gave her a memorandum in which her approval was asked for the Royal Irish Fusiliers to wear a green hackle in their busbies.  Instead of busbies she read 'breeches' and wondered 'on what portion of these garments a hackle could be worn'.  She laughed so much 'I was afraid she would have a fit'.   So much for 'We are Not Amused'.

I so loved this book and, as I always do when I read about the death of the Queen, I become very moved and get a lump in my throat.  Sir James sat up with her through the night when she was dying and administered oxygen to her to ease her breathing 'She often smiles when she hears my voice and says she will do anything I like. The whole things is pathetic and gives me a lump in my throat'.

It was Sir James who she entrusted with the task of placing a picture of John Brown in the coffin with her, which he did, covering it up so that the family would not see it, and she asked him for this favour knowing he was loyal and loved her enough to carry out this task.

Odd though it may sound to some, I find Queen Victoria very lovable, she was not perfect, she was full of faults, could be arrogant and obstinate and difficult to deal with, but she was also devoted to her servants, took care of them, overlooked their many faults (it appears that most of the staff at Balmoral spent most of their time totally off their heads) and could totally disarm with her charm and her admission that she knew she was wrong.  

I find it rather sweet that she spoke to one of her granddaughters and said that she was looking forward to seeing Grandpa again when she died 'but she was also rather nervous as she knew she had done things he might not like'.   One hopes that Albert did not write her one of his reproving letters when she arrived at the Pearly Gates....

A lovely lovely book.

Random Tuesday

Getting back into the run of things now which I always find difficult post Festive season even though I am glad to return to my normal routine.   All traces of Christmas now eradicated, any decorations I had (minimal) are now packed away, the reading lists for 2012 have all been sorted out and it is now onward and upward.

Only seven weeks until I fly out to Sydney to see Kathryn and will be gone for six weeks.  She said the heat at the moment is 'evil' and sent me a text at midnight to say Still 35C! so hoping it will cool down a bit by the time I get there.   Lots of exciting things planned, trip to Tasmania, weekend in Melbourne, week in Tuvalu which looks simply gorgeous,the opera, meeting up with friends, exploring Sydney all over again, Bondi beach and may very well take myself off on some tourist trips as well when Kathryn is at work.   Laptop coming with me and will be blogging again as I did last time.

So now I have to get myself organised, sort what clothes I am going to take etc and get a new suitcase which I intend to take out half full as I know I will bring stuff back.  I also am taking less clothing - last visit I ended up wearing the same shorts and skirt and t-shirts nearly all the time with most of my stuff languishing in the wardrobe.

I have been writing about Queen Victoria a lot in the last few days as  I watched the programme on Queen Victoria's children last week, which I have posted about, before that I read Bertie by Jane Ridley and now I have just finished Serving Victoria, which is all about her servants, private secretaries, ladies in waiting etc and is totally engrossing and will be posting about that soon.   It seems to have triggered off a VicRead and I intend to go back and have a look at other books I have on this subject on my shelves and enjoy having a look at them again.

I tend not to make plans of what I am going to read as I invariably abandon them and go off at a tangent but I think I can safely say I will be reading a lot of crime fiction again, another post lined up on this soon, loads of sloppy romances and, as always, will enjoy my reading. Long gone are the days when I read a book because I feel I must, now I just read what I want.

OK a rambly post about nothing really. Am off up to London tomorrow to see Les Girls and looking forward to that and our regular outing to the park followed by coffee and chat. Florence is just such an interesting child and very funny to be with and Beatrice just sits and beams and is delightful, though as she is teething at the moment, she can get a tad fretful.

So just dropping in to let you know I have not forgotten all you lovely Random Readers and am sure you will also be interested to hear that I had a pedicure today, feet buffed and cleaned and given a hot wax treatment, and toenailes painted a shocking pink.   I feel very frivolous.

Au reservoir.

Book of the Year 2012

I realised the other day that I had totally forgotten to announce my Book of the Year.   Did the lists, did the checking and thinking and then nada.   Christmas, allergy and hives got in the way so my apologies.

As last year, my book of the year is a non-fiction and it is Bertie: A Life of Edward VII by Jane Ridley.   The last biography of Edward read by me was one written by Philip Magnus and that was light years ago and it was time for a reappraisal and an update and when I saw this was coming out it went on my wishlist immediately. I will not repeat what I said in my review which you can see here, save to reiterate that this is a totally fascinating and absorbing book, beautifully written, impeccably researched and, what is so important to me when reading a biography, I felt that the author had a real fondness and liking for her subject, not always the case.

In the last week we have seen an excellent three parter on the relationship Queen Victoria had with her children and though it seems she was a dreadful mother, we do judge her with 2013 outlook and eyes.   If you had nine children in the Victorian times and were aristocratic, then you did not breast feed, you hired a wet nurse and your children were looked after by nannies and tutors etc.  If you were the Queen then even more reason to do so.

My theory on the mother/son relationship is that she recognised that Bertie was just like her, in looks and temperament, and it scared her. Deep down she knew that if she had not been married to Albert, and if her lines had not fallen in pleasant places, she could have led a much less worthy life.  She might have had a bit more fun, but that is by the by.   What is clear to me in this biography is that despite everything, and despite the letters and the arguments and the disapproval of his louche lifestyle, there was a bond between mother and son.   The Queen always came to his aid when he was in a scrape and though she gave him what for at the time, she never wavered in her support of him.   And, in return, though Bertie chafed at the restrictions placed on him and the constant interference in life, he never fell out with her and his letters, though sometimes annoyed and to the point, were never angry or nasty.   She often said he was warm hearted and kind and a 'dear boy' and as the years passed and the influence of her Beloved Albert lessened I feel that her disapproval of her son lessened also and she viewed him more softly.

My criteria for choosing my Book of the Year is simple.   I never put it down until it is finished, I love every single moment of my reading time and it totally engrosses me to the point that the outside world goes away.   Well, Jane Ridley and her marvellous biography ticked all the boxes.

I love Bertie and I loved this book and that is why it is my book of the year.

Queen Victoria's Children - TV

The first thing I have to say about the excellent three part documentary on the above, shown on the BBC this week, is that Fiona Bruce is nowhere to be seen.   So I was prepared to like it for that reason alone even if no other....

You know my feelings and thoughts by now on the way the BBC do these sort of documentaries - the high profile presenter, usually knowing nothing about the subject in question, wandering around as a lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vale and hill, and gazing lovingly at ceilings and then at carpets as if she/he had never seen one before - so cliched and boring.     For once the BBC did not do this. OK we had the odd shot of a blurred child, one of the Royal children running around Osborne and a woman taking off her stockings signifying that naughty Bertie was around, but this was understandable as the main thrust of this three parter was an excellent narrative and a concentration on the subject matter and it needed a little leavening.  

The BBC eschewed the dumbing down approach they have used in the past (perhaps my complaining emails may have got through?   No, probably not) and, instead of the aforementioned Miss B, we had 'talking heads' , in other words professionals and experts who knew their subject and were allowed to get on with it.  There were certainly a lot of them and they all had something of interest to say.

The two presenters I was most interested in were Helen Rappaport author of Magnificent Obsession (my book of the year 2011) and Jane Ridley author of Bertie, a biography of Edward VII which is my book of the year 2012 ( which I think I have failed to announce), both superbly written and marvellous to read.   In both of these books it cannot be said that Victoria was painted as a good and loving mother interested in her children.  Her entire love and life was wrapped up in Albert and once he died, her world fell in and, as she had taken very little interest in her children, they were unable to be a comfort to her after his death.   It seemed she resented they were alive and he was not.

The programme was fascinating. First one was all about Victoria and Albert and their life together; the second focusing on her daughters and the final one all about the sons.   Though I cannot totally defend Victoria and her attitude towards her offspring, I rather felt that this programme had taken a particular stance and pulled up every bit of documentation or proof to support this.   I have no problem with this, but I would hate everyone to think that she was a heartless, uncaring person though one is left with this impression after the three hours of watching.   My theory is that she was so adrift after she lost Albert that she was determined to control every aspect of all her children's lives as something she could cling onto and which would make her feel more secure.  The Queen was obsessed with carrying out Albert's plan to raise a model royal family and as the years went by and all of her children, in one way or another, disappointed her, she became more and more dictatorial and didactic and determined that they Would do as they Were Told. 

I find it hard to believe that she had no maternal instincts whatsoever even though her thoughts on childbirth and babies were pretty trenchant and she made no bones about describing Leopold as one of the ugliest children she had seen.  I don't think she ever got the knack of loving her children, or at least be able to show them that she did, so hidebound was she with trying hard to live up to Albert who, I personally, think would try the patience of a saint.    Having a husband who will not argue with you and who goes away and writes you reproving patient letters would make me mad, also being treated as a child, which is what he did to her.

I have always found Queen Victoria a fascinating individual and never tire of reading about her, her relatives, family and social history of the time and was delighted that this documentary was so engrossing and so well done.   I was wondering how it would be and to find that the dumbing down process had more or less been abandoned in this case was such a relief, just shows that all you need is experts who talk well and cogently, unfussy direction and production, and a narrator who told you what you wanted to hear and just let you sit back and enjoy it.

I am currently reading Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard - Life in the Royal Household which I am thoroughly enjoying and will be reviewing later.

It would be lovely if this was shown in the USA - have already received many comments wishing it was available so, fingers crossed, it will cross the pond.

So good to write a post about the BBC without my usual ranting!

Candy Nevill by Clare Mallory

My first review of 2013 and a rather delightful, old fashioned book from Clare Mallory an author whose work has totally passed me by though I gather she has a legion of fans.  She was a successful writer for girls and between 1947 to 1951 the she published ten novels - pretty good going I think you will agree.

Candy Nevill was never published in the author's lifetime and seems to have been written around 1949-1950 as the manuscript uses her London address where she was living at this time. She was originally from Dunedin in New Zealand and this story takes us back to her childhood home which she uses as a setting.

This is the sort of satisfying children's story which I used to devour when I was about ten or eleven and haunted my children's library.  It is very Noel Streatfieldish in style and characterisation, not a bad thing by any means, and the story of this family with its high achievers and its rather dull, untalented younger child ignored by her siblings will be familiar to all of those who have read Ballet Shoes, White Boots, Tennis Shoes etc.

Candy is the youngest of a family of four.   She is very ordinary, a bit lazy and totally uninterested in school, doing the bare minimum to get by.   Her three brothers and sisters are mildly annoying as they are the leaders of the school, captains of the team and future scholarship candidates who are rather ashamed of their younger sister who they view as letting the side down.   Though this always gets my back up I know that they will get their just deserts in the end.  Even her parents are dismissive of her and the father, in particular, roused my ire.   Wonderful that at the time in which this book was set,  the children had a parent who wanted them to have a good education and a career, including the girls, but his careless indifference towards Candy and her striving for his affection and approval made me very cross with him.

But Candy has a talent, she is fascinated by cooking and has a natural flair.   Like Petrova in Ballet Shoes the rest of the family think this is a bit infra dig and nothing to boast about, though they are pretty happy to eat the fruits of this interest, and when mother becomes ill, with one of these unspecified maladies which seem to be cured by 'resting' a lot on the sofa, then it is Candy who takes over the cooking and running of the household.

Of course we all know what is going to happen in the end and it does.   Candy is recognised by her peers at school and her family as being a person of worth though it takes an outsider in the form of a Mr Baker, a wealthy businessman whose daughter Ianthe befriended Candy and who, in her turn, changes her mind about her as their friendship grows to recognise this and bring it to her family's attention.    Candy had turned down the chance of a holiday in America with the Bakers as her mother was ill again and Candy knew she had to stay at home and look after her, a bit of martyrdom that made me seethe, had to remind myself when this book was written, and not take a 2013 look at it, but she gets her reward.   She comes home one day to find a package for her, all the way from the USA, and a gramophone recording made by Mr Howard which is played and listened to in total astonishment by her family. This is on the day of the schoool prizegiving at which all her elder siblings have shone....

"I was disappointed when you refused to come to the States with us' Candy blushed as a great gasp arose from the surrounding Nevills.  ' It was the kind of prize I had ready for you because you have done something mighty fine for me in the way you have helped and stood by Ianthe.  But when you told me about the cooking and cleaning and the telephone, and how important it was for your mother not to be worried, I could see that you already had something even bigger than a trip to America.  A loving heart and an unselfish one"

In the package are the latest food gadgets  and cookery books sent all the way by America and her story was told to 'the folks over here'  and who were interested in 'a little New Zealand girl who can already run a house and is interested in American cookery'.

So a slap in the face for her family which leaves them rather chastened although they have slowly come to value Candy for her integrity and modesty.  And finally, Doctor Nevill says something "He saw that his wife was regardinghim purposefully...... 'well we have four triumphs to celebrate - four dazzlingly successful Nevills"

And about bloody time too was my thought.

A charming book, a bit Pollyannish as well as Streatfieldish (oh dear pardon my mangled grammer) and with a curious and nostalgic feel to it which took me right back to my early reading days.  I remember I used to read this kind of book and think yes that's me, one day I will show them, I will be brilliant and wonderful too. Wonder what happened.....

This is a welcome reprint and is published by Margin Notes Books who are a really interesting imprint with some lovely titles.   I read and reviewed one of their books in 2012, The Whicharts, which starts off in similar style and with similar characters as those of Ballet Shoes, but then goes off in a most unexpected direction and my post on that title is here.    I am looking forward to more discoveries from this publisher and am delighted that Candy Nevill is my first Review of 2013.

A good start.