The Queen's Secret: A Novel of England's World War II Queen

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It is interesting to read the view from British perspective about the beginning of the war. When Poland was horribly bombed, it seemed as nothing was happening on the islands. And how royals from other countries fled to England for safety. And later how Londoners used Underground stations for shelter. I don't know if the voice that Ms. Harper imagined for the Queen would have felt "right" to someone who knew the current Queen's mother, but it felt flat to me and, despite her strength and commitment to the Country, I was bored with this book from beginning to end. I wanted to love her. I wanted to be drawn in to her life and her story, but I was simply not interested. Interesting piece of historical fiction, examining various rumors and theories about the private life of Elizabeth, The Queen Mother….

Not only is this book poorly written, it basically amounts to slander of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. It is an incredibly unflattering portrayal of her. It is literally a fictionalized version of The Queen Mother: The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, a trashy gossip book that honestly should have been fiction from the beginning. But worse than simply being based on trashy gossip, it's like Karen Harper read that book, thought wow this would make quite a novel, and then did ABSOLUTELY NO FURTHER RESEARCH. Every insane and ridiculous theory comes directly from that book as far as I can tell, and some facts are completely inaccurate. As it turns out the queen is holding onto a couple of bombshell secrets, in this novel, secrets that have shaped her life, her marriage, and role as a mother and as a queen. She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.Elizabeth, our "Queen Mum" has always been a figure of great interest to me. I was aware of how profoundly loved she was by her subjects in the UK. And, I was drawn to the twinkle in her eye and her obvious high spirits. So, I looked forward to reading Karen Harper's historical novel about her life with the King during WW2.

In a past life, I was a history teacher so not surprisingly I love historical fiction. That is why I requested an ARC of The Queen's Secret, though I had never heard of nor read Karen Harper. Unfortunately, I won't be reading her other novels. Harper's descriptions of London during the Blitz (and other elements of the war) were tales twice told---we all know the basics and I depend on good historical fiction to bring those stories to life. To make me feel part of the scene, part of history. This never happened for me with this book and I struggled to complete it. I did, and the end was just as flat as the beginning and the middle. This book piqued my curiosity because it was about the Queen Mother, a member of the royal family I don’t know much about. The story also highlights Elizabeth’s relationship with Churchill, her admiration for Eleanor Roosevelt, and her utter distaste for Wallis Simpson and the continual scandal she and the king’s brother wrought down upon them. Her skills for planning are in need to smooth everything out with Mrs. Roosevelt and General Eisenhower. Both are essential to the cause of uniting both countries to end the war. And she takes this very seriously to carry her load to influence them both.If you love Jennifer Robson or The Crown you will love New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper’s novel about Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. I loved ‘The King’s Speech’, but Elizabeth’s personal life is not the focus of that story. I also enjoy ‘The Crown’ on Netflix, but once again, the Queen Mother’s personal life is not the primary focus of that series, either. I’m also not really a ‘royal watcher’, despite my recent interest in the history of the monarchy.

This book is about Queen Elizabeth, wife to King George VI, mother to Queen Elizabeth II, during the years of WWII. During the war years, she was a support to the king, a vital part of keeping the British peoples spirits up, a hostess to Americans critically needed as allies, and she harbored a secret that could bring her world crashing down around her ears.Most of this book takes place during World WarII. Hitler called Elizabeth “the most dangerous woman in Europe. Elizabeth becomes the Kings advisor and is present at the meeting with Winston Churchill. And that's another issue, the ending. I really believe the author had no idea how to end it but knew she wanted it to be happy and because of that, we ended up the most convoluted conclusion ever. There was even an eye roll because it was that ridiculous. Really? Cal's content still being a secret? And the king & queen each having their side pieces and then children with their side pieces, but yet they're one big happy family? I call bull shit

This story is about the Queen Elizabeth II's mother, who for the time period when this novel takes place was married to the king and therefore she was a queen. Slightly confusing and since they are both characters in the book, I'm just going to refer to the older Elizabeth as the Queen Mother because that's what people called her for the remainder of her life after her husband died. This story takes place during World War 2 and one of the things the author does well is show how the queen was involved in many of the meetings that took place between her husband, the king, and other government officials. Often, when her husband was unavailable, she took his place at the briefings. The story also provides a nice look at what was going on in England during the war. Unfortunately there isn't a good flow to the story. You get some interesting facts but if I was going to describe the overall story I would use the word dull. She is supportive in her husband’s political decisions and is one of his closest advisors, often looking over his speeches. AND besides all of these ridiculously stupid plot points, NOTHING ELSE HAPPENS. It's the most boring WW2 book I've read since All the Light We Cannot See. The writing was the equivalent of speaking in a monotone, there was no emotion. I ended up skimming lots of it because it just did not hold my interest. Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!). Sometimes the writing veered into bad soap opera territory. I get that the Queen Mother did not like Wallis Simpson but it was mentioned so many times it was just weird. It was like the Queen Mother was a character on Days of Our Lives talking to herself about another evil character and plotting her revenge.If you enjoy historical fiction, are a fan of the royals, or like reading world war II fiction, this book might be of interest to you. So the "big secret" revealed in chapter 1 is that Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the offspring of her father and the family's French cook. Here are the real life facts presented as proof this ridiculous theory: 1) Her middle name is Marguerite, the name of the supposed cook. (I mean is it possible they just liked this name?) 2) The family referred to her and her younger brother as "the Benjamins." According to the story (and I discovered that this came directly from the ridiculous The Queen Mother book, solidifying my belief that Karen Harper did absolutely no research) biblical Benjamin was the son of Israel and his wife Rachel's handmaid. Ha, so there's the alleged proof that Elizabeth and David were the product of a similar union. But a very very simple glimpse inside the Bible would show that Benjamin was actually the son of Israel and Rachel. His wife. I don't know the real reason they were called "the Benjamins" but I'd practically guarantee they were called "the Benjamins" because they were a good bit younger than the rest of their siblings, because that's the actual truth of Benjamin in the Bible. A smidge of Biblical knowledge blows the whole theory out the water. Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas. The whole theme of the book...the queen’s secret...is clearly spelled out early on in the book. (It initially appears that there are multiple secrets, but towards the end one emerges as the front runner.) The bulk of the book is the Queen wringing her hands and wrestling with whether or not to tell her husband about it. Enough already. The reader is also bludgeoned with the fact that Queen Elizabeth detested the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. That said, it was an interesting take on the life of the queen and was not at all what I had been expecting.