Queen Victoria's Matchmaking

History buffs and royal watchers alike will be intrigued by Deborah Cadbury's account of how Queen Victoria craftily influenced royal dynasties to increase British power throughout Europe. Narrator Charlotte Strevens's sophisticated narration of actual royal letters and diaries supporting the historical facts engages listeners with the writers' majestic, glittering, and tumultuous lives. The fascinating chapters, set throughout Europe and Russia, cover the royal couples, their times together, and Victoria's part in their relationships. Strevens believably recounts the young lovers' mixed emotions as they look for mates and ponder how each decision will impact their duty as royals and their queen, as well as their personal desires. Transitions between paragraphs and chapters are sometimes jarring, but Strevens's expertise shines. S.H. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine