The Queen's Coronation: A Novel
As a young Queen Elizabeth II prepares to take the throne, three women in her employ will discover where they belong in a rapidly changing world in this heartwarming novel from the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir.
London, 1953. Buckingham Palace and the many employees vital to the smooth running of the monarchy find themselves in bedlam as the Queen's coronation quickly approaches.
Caroline Brimstone, assistant dresser to the queen, watches the queen finding the strength to rule—a woman taking charge of her future. Meanwhile, Caroline’s life is worn thin by her gambler husband, and she is barely holding on as every penny she earns seems to run out the door. When a trip to Balmoral brings her face-to-face with the man she once loved, she finds herself at a crossroads between what her life is and what her life could be. Can she, like the queen, find the strength to define her own future?
Lucy Jones is a junior wardrobe assistant who positively radiates life—she's young, idealistic, and eager to become a famous singer. So when a handsome, wealthy man at the palace promises to help her on her way to stardom, she's over the moon to have such a supportive husband-to-be. And if he's asking some things of her that she's not quite sure about, isn't that just part of the glamorous life?
Miranda Miller has come over from America just in time to help with preparations as a temporary secretary in the palace. The job is a perfect way to gather information for the article she's writing about the coronation for a magazine back in New York; the article that will keep her boss from firing her because of her gender.
But as all three women discover, just because a woman will soon be sitting upon the throne, it doesn't mean that society will change overnight—and if they want to carve places for themselves in this world, they'll have to do it together.
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Community Reviews
This book was a delight - based on Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and the various palace employees who had roles leading up to the big event. The main characters were Caroline Brimstone, Lucy Jones and Miranda Miller. We are introduced to Caroline first, who is an assistant dresser to the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Caroline has a sweet daughter, though she is trapped in a loveless marriage with a dolt. Her backstory is revealed, that she once had a love when she was younger, while serving the Queen in Balmoral. The lovers become separated through WW2 - but a chance meeting many years later gives Caroline hope that her love, Angus, did not abandon her or die in the war after all. The second character was Lucy Jones. Probably my least favorite plot-line, involving a naive young and poor girl from the country being taken advantage of by a scoundrel who serves in the court for Prince Philip. And the final character, Miranda, who is an American journalist on a mission posing as an event planner, but trying to sneak an advance description of the coronation gown and report it to her boss at her New Jersey newspaper, accomplishing a worldwide scoop. Though the characters are fictional, it was fun to be wrapped-up in the backstories and preparation as a real-world event took place.
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