Rating: 
Summary: A woman with a heart but next to no common sense!
Review: A biography about one of England's most enigmatic and on this side of the pond at least lesser known Queens. Charlotte born into the rather stogy provincal atmosphere of the Hanoverian Court was married off while still a teenager to her first cousin the future King George IV. A dandy and bon vivant who had already contracted a marriage years ago to the attractive and apparently virtuous widow Mrs. FitzHerbert. Alas Mrs. FitzHerbert was not only a commoner but a staunch catholic and George was a spend thrift. When His father refused to continue filling his coffers unless he found himself a proper (i.e. Royal) bride he abandoned Mrs. FitzHerbert and wed poor Charlotte. Almost at once however he was repulsed by his cousin (whom he had never before met). After siring one child (a daughter Charlotte) he promptly returned to the far more worldly and appealing Mrs. FitzHerbert. This led poor Charlotte to rebel. Her rebellion was to cost her dearly. Leading in the end to a notorioius and flawed trial headed by parliment to decide if she was in fact guilty of adultry. Charlotte led a tragic but interesting life. As with Marie-Antoinette it can be said that Charlotte's own bad judgement and ignorance were as much (if not more) to blame for her misfortunes as the ill will of her enemies. Overall it was an engaing account of a fascinating woman and period in time. It gave glimpses into the lives of the rest of the British Royal Family. From George's rather embittered maiden sisters to his mad father King George III and his outwardly sweet but meddling mother Queen Charlotte.
Rating:
Summary: Following in her mother's footsteps
Review: Flora Fraser is definitely Antonia's daughter. This book is elegantly written, meticulously researched, and a pleasure to read. Ms. Fraser doesn't dwell lasciviously on the naughty bits, but she doesn't avoid them either. Historians of the Regency period (or any period) realize that the ubiquitous sex is the least interesting part. If you're not interested in history and biography, if you prefer The Enquirer to The New York Times, you'll probably be disappointed in this book. On the other hand, if you crave intelligent, truthful, fluidly written narrative about a fascinating time in which hypocritical politicians played innuendo like a fine instrument (sound familiar?), get this book. I've read it multiple times, and always find something new to appreciate.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting history
Review: Flora Fraser writes beautifully, and her research is impeccable. This is one of the best "life and times" set in Georgian England available today. The popularity of Queen Caroline with the populace, always looking for symbols of opposition to the monarchy, makes clearer the similar fascination in our time with as inexplicable a figure as Diana, Princess of Wales. The books is a great read that has something to say, rather like the wonderful Mediterranean histories written by the late Sir Steven Runicman (e.g., History of the Crusades). The Unruly Queen, along with David Gilmour's Curzon, are must reading for those interested in British history.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting history
Review: Flora Fraser writes beautifully, and her research is impeccable. This is one of the best "life and times" set in Georgian England available today. The popularity of Queen Caroline with the populace, always looking for symbols of opposition to the monarchy, makes clearer the similar fascination in our time with as inexplicable a figure as Diana, Princess of Wales. The books is a great read that has something to say, rather like the wonderful Mediterranean histories written by the late Sir Steven Runicman (e.g., History of the Crusades). The Unruly Queen, along with David Gilmour's Curzon, are must reading for those interested in British history.
Rating: 
Summary: Juicy subject, boring book
Review: Flora Fraser: Scholar with a Sense of Fun. By: Sheila Coffin An Interview with Flora Fraser: The very British and rather brilliant author Flora Fraser, began her work on the best-selling, "The Unruly Queen," when her editor, Robert Gottlieb, suggested that she write about Queen Caroline. In case your history is foggy, Queen Caroline, born Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel in 1768, was the wife of George IV of England. Flora told me about it while she sat in front of the huge picture window overlooking the ocean. I had just finished telling her how my mother and I saw our first whales there when I said, "Here I come from an old Nantucket Whaling family and I've never seen a whale." "At which time," I told Flora, "the sky opened, a rainbow stabbed the ocean and a shape breached the surface and sprayed!" Flora and I laughed but now while we talked we were both alert for the possible presence of whales outside the window. Flora: "I researched 'The Unruly Queen : The Life of Queen Caroline' in the Royal Archives for ten years. The story of Queen Caroline was a most undignified Regency riot, with the famously sophisticated Prince Regent, as the Prince of Wales became in 1822, and Her Royal Highness the Princes of Wales, brawling and abusing each other like fishwives." Flora gestured behind her, asking if I saw any whales. "No," I shook my head. Flora sighed and continued, "I was intrigued by the Queen, by her intelligence, her bravery, her optimistic character. She also had some less endearing traits. She told fantastic lies, was sexually brazen, a spendthrift and selfish. The Queen's husband turned her out of his home because she did not please him, she 'smelt,' and was the possessor of 'personal nastiness.' Caroline had things to say about George IV, too. She countered that he was not half so handsome as his portrait and rather fat. It was the adultery of both parties that made for such a scandal. Rumor had it that George IV was already previously married to a Catholic widow, Marie Fitzherbert. George IV also had a mistress, Lady Jersey, whom he flaunted even before he ejected Caroline from his home. For twenty-five years the Prince made every effort to divorce Caroline. She resisted him, sometimes from mischief, sometimes because she felt she should not be made to suffer because of the Prince's misconduct. Ironically it was Caroline who was put on trial for adultery. Spies employed by George IV claimed she had committed adultery with a variety of lovers, among them an Italian 'low man,' named Bartelomeo Pergami. Caroline's spirited response was, 'I have only committed adultery once, and that was with the husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert.' The allegations of George IV's marriage to Maria Fitzherbert, and the extent of the truth behind Queen Caroline's possible indiscretions were never resolved. Caroline's trial ended with the charges of adultery being dropped. The divorce was never accomplished as the Queen died shortly after George IV's ascent to the throne." The British people's intrigue with their Royalty continues as does the interesting behavior of these Regents. Flora Fraser, herself, is another instance of history continuing itself. She comes from a strong line of Biographers. Both her mother and grandmother are writers. Flora says this of them: "My family has helped me to steer a clear course as a writer. I inherited my editor, Robert Gottlieb, from both of them as well." Listening to Flora speak of her various writing achievements one is left with the impression of a colorful and animated intelligence, of someone who went forth into the Royal Archives in the tower of Windsor Castle armed for serious study and who at the end of ten years came away with a spicy and captivating biography about a royal past that seems replicated in the country's current events. Flora's style is delightful. You will want read this Biography to see how much, or how little history, and people, have changed. We never did see a whale that day but when I left Flora she was looking.
Rating:
Summary: Flora's Biography of Historical Palace Intrigue: Delightful!
Review: Flora Fraser: Scholar with a Sense of Fun. By: Sheila Coffin An Interview with Flora Fraser: The very British and rather brilliant author Flora Fraser, began her work on the best-selling, "The Unruly Queen," when her editor, Robert Gottlieb, suggested that she write about Queen Caroline. In case your history is foggy, Queen Caroline, born Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel in 1768, was the wife of George IV of England. Flora told me about it while she sat in front of the huge picture window overlooking the ocean. I had just finished telling her how my mother and I saw our first whales there when I said, "Here I come from an old Nantucket Whaling family and I've never seen a whale." "At which time," I told Flora, "the sky opened, a rainbow stabbed the ocean and a shape breached the surface and sprayed!" Flora and I laughed but now while we talked we were both alert for the possible presence of whales outside the window. Flora: "I researched 'The Unruly Queen : The Life of Queen Caroline' in the Royal Archives for ten years. The story of Queen Caroline was a most undignified Regency riot, with the famously sophisticated Prince Regent, as the Prince of Wales became in 1822, and Her Royal Highness the Princes of Wales, brawling and abusing each other like fishwives." Flora gestured behind her, asking if I saw any whales. "No," I shook my head. Flora sighed and continued, "I was intrigued by the Queen, by her intelligence, her bravery, her optimistic character. She also had some less endearing traits. She told fantastic lies, was sexually brazen, a spendthrift and selfish. The Queen's husband turned her out of his home because she did not please him, she 'smelt,' and was the possessor of 'personal nastiness.' Caroline had things to say about George IV, too. She countered that he was not half so handsome as his portrait and rather fat. It was the adultery of both parties that made for such a scandal. Rumor had it that George IV was already previously married to a Catholic widow, Marie Fitzherbert. George IV also had a mistress, Lady Jersey, whom he flaunted even before he ejected Caroline from his home. For twenty-five years the Prince made every effort to divorce Caroline. She resisted him, sometimes from mischief, sometimes because she felt she should not be made to suffer because of the Prince's misconduct. Ironically it was Caroline who was put on trial for adultery. Spies employed by George IV claimed she had committed adultery with a variety of lovers, among them an Italian 'low man,' named Bartelomeo Pergami. Caroline's spirited response was, 'I have only committed adultery once, and that was with the husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert.' The allegations of George IV's marriage to Maria Fitzherbert, and the extent of the truth behind Queen Caroline's possible indiscretions were never resolved. Caroline's trial ended with the charges of adultery being dropped. The divorce was never accomplished as the Queen died shortly after George IV's ascent to the throne." The British people's intrigue with their Royalty continues as does the interesting behavior of these Regents. Flora Fraser, herself, is another instance of history continuing itself. She comes from a strong line of Biographers. Both her mother and grandmother are writers. Flora says this of them: "My family has helped me to steer a clear course as a writer. I inherited my editor, Robert Gottlieb, from both of them as well." Listening to Flora speak of her various writing achievements one is left with the impression of a colorful and animated intelligence, of someone who went forth into the Royal Archives in the tower of Windsor Castle armed for serious study and who at the end of ten years came away with a spicy and captivating biography about a royal past that seems replicated in the country's current events. Flora's style is delightful. You will want read this Biography to see how much, or how little history, and people, have changed. We never did see a whale that day but when I left Flora she was looking.
Rating: 
Summary: Book OK, audio version annoying
Review: I don't have the scholarly background to assess the accuracy of Fraser's work in this book. I've found it to be fairly interesting though not incredibly scintillating. What I do feel strongly about, however, is the reader on the audiobook version. The woman reading insists on affecting different accents and tones of voice whenever there is a quote from primary sources (e.g., a faint German accent for Caroline's quotes, French accent for quotes from French commentators, blustery tones for George III and IV, etc.). I'll admit this has some usefulness, as it does help the listener keep track of who is being quoted in this long book, which does rely heavily on primary source quotes. However, it gets on my nerves to hear a reader of a nonfiction work affecting different voices--it's all right for fiction, but it seems silly to me in a work of nonfiction. Just my personal opinion and a warning for those who feel the same way.
Rating:
Summary: It's Deja Vu All Over Again
Review: Of Queen Caroline, Jane Austen said: "She was bad, but she would not have become as bad as she was if he had not been infinitely worse." Caroline of Brunswick is a fascinating person--part Fergie, part the injured Diana, Princess of Wales. The "he" in this case is George IV, the five times great uncle of the current Prince of Wales, whose petulant anger over his wife's greater popularity is so reminiscent of our century's War of the Waleses. Indeed, it is the similarities between the two that makes this book a worthwhile read. Still, this book is a weighty, scholarly tome. The author doesn't completely drown the drama but there are times (when she uses the stilted court English of the era) she comes perilously close to doing so. This material in the hands of a storyteller instead of a scholar could have been a best seller.
Rating:
Summary: An enigma, still unexplained
Review: This is a fascinating, almost incredible, true story, but (as reviewers who've preceded me here have pointed out) Flora Fraser hasn't managed to do it justice. Queen Caroline's actions are so baffling, so inconsistent, and so seemingly self-destructive that a writer really must have a "take" on her for a biography to be enlightening or moving. Fraser seems almost afraid to take a stand, or else so mired in her research that she's lost the need for a big picture. The result is that when Caroline veers in completely new directions-- suddenly taking lovers after years of faithfulness to a husband who despised her, or leaving England at the drop of a hat after years of determination to fight her battles there-- the reader gets the (highly detailed) facts without any insights that could help us understand a seemingly random shift. We don't even learn why Caroline, with few marital prospects into her mid-20s, was chosen to marry the future George IV in the first place. It's not even clear whether Fraser likes her subject, approves of her actions, or felt much enthusiasm for the project except as a collector of commemorative objects she calls "Carolingiana." I guess writing biographies is just the family business...
Specific oddities include no real sense of George IV's personality or motivation, the tendency of key people to drop out of the narrative altogether when they're not present in Caroline's life (even those important to Caroline, like her daughter Charlotte), and detailed descriptions of paintings (by one of Caroline's supposed lovers, Thomas Lawrence) that Fraser hasn't actually included in the illustrations. So much is made of the transformation of Caroline's appearance over the years that we really do need to see more from her later life than caricatures and cartoons.
It would seem inevitable that someone will make a great drama out of this story-- as a biography, or even as a play or film. It's a shame that Fraser didn't see that she could convey some of this drama, and real insight, without compromising her extensive research.
Rating: 
Summary: May I have my time back, please?
Review: Whatever were they THINKING!?! I mean, the author, and worse, the editors. This is an appallingly bad book. I staggered through the whole University of California paperback version, convinced that eventually it would improve. Sadly, I was too optimistic. Caroline of Brunswick was clearly quite an unpleasant person all 'round. Ill-educated, dishonest, gullible, ill-bred, plain at best, lacking in style and sense, desperate for any sort of attention, she would be difficult to like in the hands of the most talented biographer. It's a shame that she was left to Flora Fraser. This particular Ms. Fraser is living proof that a talent for biography isn't hereditary. She is pendantic, tedious, and apparently without enthusiasm for her subject, whom she abandons regularly in pursuit of political minutiae. I was startled by the ineptitude of the editing. In a number of instances the vocabulary used was clearly anachronistic slang, but the quotes were not footnoted, leaving the reader bewildered as to the meaning of the quote. In these instances, the Oxford English Dictionary was no help, surely a responsible standard for an editor of a British/American release? Some quotes are simply inaccurate. I suspect the editors may have been overawed by Flora Fraser's lineage, and hopeful of a comparison between Diana Spencer and Caroline of Brunswick. If Caroline was as Flora Fraser describes, there is scant ground for such hopes. I majored in British history, am quite accustomed to dry texts, and have read each and every one of Lady Antonia Fraser's splendid works with pleasure. In this case, the daughter should NOT have attempted to go into the family trade, she has no talent for it. I very much regret the time I wasted plodding through this exceedingly dull book about a sad, dreary woman who would have been best left to rest in peace. And no, to the best of my knowledge, I'm no relation to this branch of Frasers.
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