An absolute gem, this novella is Alan Bennett’s take on the Queen becoming a bibliophile and it is absolutely delightful. At one point the Queen laments not having read books of authors she had met in the past, her private secretary says “But ma’am must have been briefed surely?” to which the Queen responds “Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up”. A very funny and thoroughly enjoyable book about the joy of reading. A must for all book lovers…..and for those that aren’t and should be!
From one of England's most celebrated writers, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading
When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading initially alarms the palace staff and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large. With the poignant and mischievous wit of The History Boys, England's best loved author Alan Bennett revels in the power of literature to change even the most uncommon reader's life.
Alan Bennett has been one of our leading dramatists since the success of Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s. His television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, as have many of his works for the stage, including Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, A Question of Attribution, The Madness of George III (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George) and an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. His most recent play, The History Boys, won Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle awards for Best Play, The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the South Bank Award.
