Growing up as a princess in the exotic lands of western Africa sounds glamorous... but terrible tribal warfare changes everything for the heroine of this book. At Her Majesty's Request is the true story of a young African princess in the mid 1800s who is rescued from death and then adopted by Britain's Queen Victoria.

She can't even remember her real name.

The first chapter of the book is pretty insane. After defeating her tribe and killing her whole family, the winning tribe is about to sacrifice the seven-year-old princess. British Army Commander Forbes is in Africa to try to stop the slave trade and witnesses the whole thing. He couldn't believe that a king could kill a child in a ritual.

But Gezo had no problem at all sacrificing the girl. She was an Egbado, it was explained, an enemy of the Dahomans. The tribal markings on her face showed she was of royal blood. Her blood on the graves of the King's ancestors would be a great honor to them.

Luckily for the girl, Commander Forbes manages to convince the Dahoman King that Queen Victoria will never respect him if he kills an innocent child. So the King decides to send her, as a gift, to Queen Victoria. She would be a present from the King of the blacks to the Queen of the whites.

The Captain names the scared little girl, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, and escorts her to England. As frightened as she is, she manages to learn enough English from the sailors on the ship to impress Queen Victoria who agrees to pay for her living expenses. From then on, Sarah is well taken care of and has a special relationship with the royal family but, sadly, never really finds a family of her own. She can't even remember her real name.

Sarah is a strong and mighty soul, worth getting to know.

What really captured me about Sarah was that she always managed to stay really strong, no matter what the situation. She stayed on her toes. Through her letters, we see that Sarah struggled constantly, feeling lonely and sometimes quite sad, but overall she was strong and confident. She was amazing, and I really admire her.

I definitely recommend this book. If you like interesting true stories and excitement, this book is for you! It's sad at moments too. I thought I was going to cry because the words captured my heart. Sometimes the history and travel between African and England make it a bit confusing but you'll fall right back on track.

I hope by reading this review you are already enjoying Sarah! There aren't too many people I know who have faced these kind of obstacles and stayed so unique and genuine. She is a strong and mighty soul, worth getting to know.

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