The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Edelweiss

Read: February 10, 2016

Based on a seldom-told true story, this novel is perfect for everyone who is fascinated by Britain’s royal family—a behind the scenes look into the nurseries of little princes and the foibles of big princes. April, 1897: A young nanny arrives at Sandringham, ancestral estate of the Duke and Duchess of York. She is excited, exhausted—and about to meet royalty... So begins the unforgettable story of Charlotte Bill, who would care for a generation of royals as their parents never could. Neither Charlotte—LaLa, as her charges dub her—nor anyone else can predict that eldest sons David and Bertie will each one day be king. LaLa knows only that these children, and the four who swiftly follow, need her steadfast loyalty and unconditional affection. But the greatest impact on Charlotte’s life is made by a mere bud on the family tree: a misunderstood soul who will one day be known as the Lost Prince. Young Prince John needs all of Lala’s love—the kind of love his parents won’t…or can’t... show him. From Britain’s old wealth to the glittering excesses of Tsarist Russia; from country cottages to royal yachts, and from nursery to ballroom, Charlotte Bill witnesses history. The Royal Nanny is a seamless blend of fact and fiction—an intensely intimate, yet epic tale spanning decades, continents, and divides that only love can cross.

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Charlotte Bill and Prince John

I requested a review copy of Karen Harper’s The Royal Nanny with half-hearted curiosity. I had a vague historic interest in George V and his family, but I can’t say I was chomping at the bit to experience a fictional account of Prince John and his beloved nurse, Charlotte Bill. In retrospect, this lack of enthusiasm is rather embarrassing as it represents a severe understatement of both author and subject matter, but it is something I gladly cop to in order to emphasize how profoundly impressed I was on completing the narrative. 

Harper’s pen bewitched my imagination in such a way that even now, weeks after completing The Royal Nanny, I find myself at a loss for words. I’m a picky reader and there are a few things I’d have loved to see Harper elaborate on over the course of this story, but those details are so insignificant that they don’t bear mentioning. At the end of the day, my wants stem from a desire for more time with certain members of Harper’s cast and I don’t feel it appropriate to criticize when the root cause of my comments is in fact adoration and praise. 

Charlotte proved a charmingly endearing heroine in my eyes. She isn’t particularly complex in terms of disposition and temperament, but her internal struggles and personal relationships are so intimately drawn that it’s hard not to be moved by her experiences. There is an authenticity in her character that pulls at the heartstrings and despite knowing how events would unfold, I often found myself lost in both her joys and sorrows. Society has changed a lot in the last hundred years, but the intensely personal ramifications of her career choices felt relevant even by contemporary standards. Charlotte could not have everything she wanted in life and watching her accept that reality and find her own happiness despite that which life denied her was truly inspiring.

The children themselves added another layer of depth to novel. Harper took great care to depict each in a way that would complement their real life experiences and I loved how her attention to detail manifested itself through her adolescent cast. I often found myself exasperated with Edward, sympathetic toward Albert, and delighted with Mary. Henry and George play smaller roles, but the moments they share with Charlotte also hint at the trials their historical counterparts faced as adults. John’s relationship with Charlotte is different, but appropriately so. In many ways John was her child and I felt the shift seen in narrative as he grows fitting in light of the situation and circumstances of the life they shared. 

My favorite element of the story, however, was Chad. He wasn’t a character I’d anticipated and his role caught me entirely off guard. I worried about his relevance in the early chapters, but soon realized his importance and admire how Harper used him to round out and challenge Charlotte throughout the story. He’s the perfect counterbalance and I think he brings out something in Charlotte that is often overlooked when examining her legacy and involvement with the royal family. 

At the end of the day, I can’t recommend The Royal Nanny highly enough. Author Sandra Byrd dubbed it compulsively page-turning and I couldn’t agree more. It is a brilliant illuminating novel that affords exceptional insight to the world of Britain’s monarchs, their children, and their staff.  

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It seemed that these glorious ­people in their silks and satins and jewels glittered as much as the gifts and the tree. And to think, Mabel and Rose had both told me that more gifts would be given to the downstairs staff and estate workers in a week on New Year’s Day, another time for celebration and a party. But for me, among these glittering ­people who ruled the realm, a new year—­a new life—­had already begun.

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The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: October 23, 2013

It is 1910 and Maria, a talented young girl from the East end of London, is employed to work as a seamstress for the royal family. As an attractive girl, she soon catches the eye of the Prince of Wales and she in turn is captivated by his glamour and intensity. But careless talk causes trouble and soon Maria’s life takes a far darker turn. Disbelieved and dismissed she is thrown into a mental asylum, shut away from the real world with only her needlework for company. Can a beautiful quilt, discovered many years later, reveal the truth behind what happened to Maria?

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Liz Trenow's debut novel, The Last Telegram, made a significant impression on me. I found her ability to convey such poignant emotions against the tumultuous backdrop of WWII highly appealing and couldn't wait to read more of her work. As you might well imagine, that anticipation made waiting for The Forgotten Seamstress something of a challenge. 

Now I can't say Maria's story struck the same chord as Lily's, but I feel that actually worked in Trenow's favor as this is an entirely different kind of narrative. The Last Telegram was a relatively linear piece, but The Forgotten Seamstress is as layered and diverse as the patchwork quilt around which the story unfolds. 

Take for example, the novel's title character. Despite being the central figure of Trenow's narrative, the reader never meets Maria face to face. Her story comes to us piecemeal in a series of half-remembered family histories, personal letters and audio cassettes. One feels naturally distanced from this character, but the manner in which we come to understand the events of her life is remarkably intimate. The contrast that created, the inherent sentimentality of it, translates beautifully and becomes, I think, one of the strongest aspects of the entire narrative. 

Another interesting facet of this piece is that it is a multigenerational story, a feature that allowed Trenow to explore evolving social norms in a very unique fashion. Separated by decades, Maria and Caroline share a very similar personal experience. The resulting parallel produces nice symmetry between both portions of the novel, but the variation highlighted by the side by side comparison of their situations is also quite fascinating. 

Last, but certainly not least, I love the historic details Trenow worked into the fabric of this piece. Her foray into the world of twentieth century psychiatrics offered an unexpected twist that sparked my interest and encouraged me to research a topic I knew very little about. For me, this is the difference between good and great historic fiction. The good is entertaining, but the great inspires you to look between the lines of text and absorb those details that inspired author to put pen to paper in the first place.

A definite addition to my list of personal favorites, The Forgotten Seamstress is a moving tale of lost love, enduring hope, and renewed faith.

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The words were so heartfelt, and yet nowhere in the medical notes was there a single mention of any pregnancy, or a baby. Was all of that just a fantasy, too? Perhaps most of the story was true, or just delicately embroidered, like Maria’s elegant stitching? But wherever the truth lay, I loved her descriptions of how she had made the quilt, and how she had designed the individual frames. Each concentric section had been created to represent or commemorate individuals she had known: her lover – whoever he was – the lost baby and the hospital visitor who befriended her and helped bring back her speech. Her history was held in the fabrics she’d used, the designs, and the appliquéd figures. It was the patchwork of a life – the metaphor pleased me – and now I understood the meaning of that little vers

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