We Two: Victoria and Albert

Author: Gillian Gill
Published: 2009
Genres: Historical Non-fiction
Rating: 3

Summary
The epic relationship began poorly. The cousins first met as teenagers for a few brief, awkward, chaperoned weeks in 1836. At seventeen, charming rather than beautiful, Victoria already “showed signs of wanting her own way.” Albert, the boy who had been groomed for her since birth, was chubby, self-absorbed, and showed no interest in girls, let alone this princess. So when they met again in 1839 as queen and presumed prince-consort-to-be, neither had particularly high hopes. But the queen was delighted to discover a grown man, refined, accomplished, and whiskered. “Albert is beautiful!” Victoria wrote, and she proposed just three days later.

As Gill reveals, Victoria and Albert entered their marriage longing for intimate companionship, yet each was determined to be the ruler. This dynamic would continue through the years–each spouse, headstrong and impassioned, eager to lead the marriage on his or her own terms. For two decades, Victoria and Albert engaged in a very public contest for dominance. Against all odds, the marriage succeeded, but it was always a work in progress. And in the end, it was Albert's early death that set the Queen free to create the myth of her marriage as a peaceful idyll and her husband as Galahad, pure and perfect.

Review
This book was lengthy to the point of being tedious in places. The author's organzation led to oft-repeated information. Then, unbelievably, it ended too abruptly. I recognize that the book was about Victoria AND Albert--and therefore ended with his death. But a short chapter to summarize the next 50 years of Victoria's reign and to explain what happened to the other children (who they married, etc.) would have been preferrable.