琴．普雷迪Jean Plaidy

全球暢銷破億・二十世紀最偉大歷史小說家之一

英國人最愛的宮廷歷史小說名家

琴‧普雷迪為伊蓮娜．西柏特（Eleanor Hibbert）的其中一個筆名，西柏特另有菲莉芭．卡爾（Philippa Carr）、維多莉亞．霍特（Victoria Holt）等數個筆名，分別發表不同類型的作品。西柏特畢生創作逾二百部小說，產量驚人，叫好叫座，她過世的那一年，作品在全球銷量已超過一億本，於二十多國出版。琴．普雷迪為西伯特最負盛名的「巨匠形象」，一共著有九十冊以歐洲皇室為題的歷史小說。

一九○六年，西柏特生於倫敦。她的寫作熱忱遺傳自父親，自小熱愛探索倫敦街頭的歷史古蹟。她在二十出頭邁入婚姻，婚後開始發展自幼的寫作夢想。

一九四一年，在歷經為報刊雜誌撰寫短篇小說，並研究過數十部羅曼史小說後，她以小說《安娜的女兒》出道，此後數十年持續輪流以各筆名發表大量作品。西柏特自稱寫作於她如「藥癮」，她一週寫作七天，長時間浸淫於圖書館的資料研究，更親自閱讀回覆書迷的信件。她深受夏綠蒂‧白朗特、狄更斯、托爾斯泰、雨果影響，擅長羅曼史、歌德小說、歷史小說等類型，其中以琴．普雷迪筆名發表的歷史小說最受歡迎，書評與歷史學家皆驚嘆其作品的正確性、精準度，以及不俗的寫作品質。

一九八九年，美國羅曼史作家協會頒獎給西柏特，肯定其對羅曼史寫作之貢獻。一九九三年一月，西柏特於海上航行時逝世，同年三月，一場盛大的悼念儀式於倫敦舉行。在她離世之後，其作品仍於圖書館熱門借閱排行榜上高踞不墜。

In this unforgettable novel of Queen Victoria, Jean Plaidy re-creates a remarkable life filled with romance, triumph, and tragedy.

At birth, Princess Victoria was fourth in line for the throne of England, the often-overlooked daughter of a prince who died shortly after her birth. She and her mother lived in genteel poverty for most of her childhood, exiled from court because of her mother’s dislike of her uncles, George IV and William IV. A strong, willful child, Victoria was determined not to be stifled by her powerful uncles or her unpopular, controlling mother. Then one morning, at the age of eighteen, Princess Victoria awoke to the news of her uncle William’s death. The almost-forgotten princess was now Queen of England. Even better, she was finally free of her mother’s iron hand and her uncles’ manipulations. Her first act as queen was to demand that she be given a room—and a bed—of her own.

Victoria’s marriage to her German cousin, Prince Albert, was a blissfully happy one that produced nine children. Albert was her constant companion and one of her most trusted advisors. Victoria’s grief after Prince Albert’s untimely death was so shattering that for the rest of her life—nearly forty years—she dressed only in black. She survived several assassination attempts, and during her reign England’s empire expanded around the globe until it touched every continent in the world.

Derided as a mere “girl queen” at her coronation, by the end of her sixty-four-year reign, Victoria embodied the glory of the British Empire. In this novel, written as a “memoir” by Victoria herself, she emerges as truthful, sentimental, and essentially human—both a lovable woman and a great queen.