Queen in Waiting

A vast improvement over the first volume of the Georgian saga, this book showed me the Sophie, Sophie Charlotte and most importantly the Caroline I'd been looking for. I've already read and enjoyed Caroline the Queen so it was especially nice to get more back story, particularly about the enmity between Caroline's husband (the future George II) and father-in-law (King George I) given further context by the events of Princess of Celle. Sigh. This is why I like to read series in order! But these books get hard to find...

One problem this book has that lost it a star, though, is that it was a tad repetitive. La Hibbert apparently didn't trust us to remember that, say, George I thought Caroline was foxy but too clever and "needed watching", show more or that his tall, thin mistress was practically a wife to him, or that Caroline had a nice rack, without being reminded of these every chapter or so. Sigh. show less

On the whole a good and accurate work of fiction about the early years of Caroline of Ansbach (George II's wife) as she was shuttled around German courts as a child, got married and then became Princess of Wales when the Hanovers took over the British throne. The opening sixty or so pages can be a bit daunting while all the compexities of the various families are explained. Later on, there is a degree of padding and repetition since actual events are few, and more time than is necessary is spent on revisiting attitudes and problems. The book would have benefitted by being trimmed by fifty pages.