Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born in England in 1900. Her parents were Cecelia Cavendish-Bentinck and Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She spent much of her childhood at Glamis Castle, a beautiful castle that belonged to her father's family. She received a very decent education, both in public and with a private tutor. With the outbreak of World War I, Glamis Castle was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, and she did her part to aid in the war effort by helping run that. She also led the rescue effort for the contents of the castle when a fire broke out in 1916. She married Prince Albert, Duke of York in 1923. The two would go on to have two daughters, Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. Eventually, Elizabeth and Albert would become the reigning monarchs of England when his brother, Edward VII, abdicated the throne. During World War II, Elizabeth once again served the people by visiting troops and hospitals, though she was met with some negativity for doing so. In her later years, she did a lot of public appearances and charity work that I was previously unaware of. She was very into horse racing, which gave me a common interest with her. She died in 2002.

I didn't really know much about Elizabeth before reading this book, other than she was the mother of Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. I actually got this book because I started watching The Crown on Netflix and really wanted to lean more about the people behind the characters. Plus, I have an interest in royals and family dynasties. I thought this book was well written, and I enjoyed getting to know this person and all of the things that she did and experienced. I can see why she wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I found her to be a fascinating person. If you are into royals or just historical figures in general, I think you would like this book. It was tremendously well researched, in my opinion, and very entertaining to read. I know people feel like nonfiction books are boring in a lot of cases, but this one was engaging.