Review and Giveaway: Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl

From the Publisher's Website:

London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on newly discovered information, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe.

About the Author:

Michaela MacColl studied multi-disciplinary history at Vassar College and Yale University, which turns out to be the perfect degree for writing historical fiction. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and three extremely large cats in Connecticut. This is her first book.

My Opinion:

This is a book geared towards young adults. That did not make it any less interesting to this old goat. I must admit to not knowing much at all about Queen Victoria other than truly loving the architecture named after her age. This book strives to show Victoria as a teenager - before she became the small woman in mourning we are accostomed to thinking of when we hear her name.

The author does a good job of bringing a young girl to life. Having had a horrifyingly sheltered life young Victoria comes off more as a child as the book begins than a young lady.  Her mother and her mother's lover are doing all they can to keep Victoria under their control so that they - well mostly Sir John - can rule as regents.  The main character in this novel, Elizabeth Hastings is fictional but her tale of being orphaned and forced to take a job as a maid is what drives the plot.  I found the characters to be quite believable although I wonder if young Victoria would truly be so childish.  The novel was a quick, easy read for me - I finished it on the drive to and from Missoula with a couple of "sit and waits" in the car while the hubby ran errands so maybe 4 hours?  It was fun and interesting to explore the early life of a Queen I did not know.

Prisoners in the Palace is available at Chronicle Books
Prisoners in the Palace is available at Amazon.com














One lucky reader will win a copy of Prisoners in the Palace.
How do you win? It's easy!
But first some rules:

US only
No PO Boxes

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Tell me if you know more about Victoria than I did. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Follow my blog publicly. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway(one per day) - @BrokenTeepee and Chronicle Books are giving away 1 copy of Prisoners in the Palace @http://tinyurl.com/234ovv6 #giveaway

3. Friend me on Facebook - good for two entries so leave two comments 

4. Post the giveaway on Facebook and leave the link 

5. Like Chronicle Books on Facebook 

6. Follow Chronicle Books on Twitter

SEE THE EXTRA ENTRIES PAGE FOR ADDITIONAL WAYS TO ENTER.

All entries need to be in by 9PM MST on November 15th when I will go to Random.org to choose the winner. He/she will have 48hrs to respond or I will choose a new winner.

Good luck everyone.

Disclosure:  I received a gratis copy of Prisoners in the Palace from Chronicle Books. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.