Christmas with the Queen
This delightful seasonal novel begins in 1952 with Queen Elizabeth II, not long after her father’s untimely death. Although it takes place mostly at Sandringham, it spotlights an unusual romance, and flips back and forth between 1945, when Olive Carter and Jack Devereux were part of a post-war gathering of friends, and the early 1950s Christmases when the two become reacquainted. The intervening seven years have not been easy, and Jack and Olive relate their stories in alternating chapters, with an occasional sojourn into the musings of the queen, and her attempts to soften her vocal tone in her speech. Single mum Olive is a BBC radio reporter assigned to Sandringham as royal correspondent in 1952, when her male boss succumbs to an illness caused by the smog. Jack, a wannabe chef, tragically loses his wife to a vehicular accident in the same deadly smog, and is persuaded by a best friend to take a position in the royal kitchens of Buckingham Palace.
This is a tender story which covers five Christmases, immersing readers in the upstairs/downstairs day-to-day of great houses, the stunning venue of Sandringham, world travel undertaken by the queen and Philip, and of course, the queen’s Christmas addresses to the nation, which have become an anticipated tradition in British life. Themes will resonate strongly with women, even today; single motherhood, lack of recognition in the workplace, belittlement of ability, and other issues of relevance such as the balance of motherhood with profession. Olive’s situation as a single mother is gently offset by the queen’s long absences from her children, and sometimes from her beloved Philip, although this might seem a difficult comparison. Her loyalty to country over loyalty to family is compassionately dealt with. Any reader of heartwarming and poignant romance stories will enjoy this offering from Gaynor and Webb.
