Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

William Kuhn
Author of Mrs. Queen Takes the Train
(Photo sources: Harper Collins; Gregory Gaymont)

It might be that you have done nothing in the way of reading to celebrate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year. Here is your chance to remedy that and to accompany Elizabeth II as she takes a little fictional trip from London to Edinburgh.

In his novel Mrs. Queen Takes the Train, author William Kuhn has created a monarch who is feeling a bit blue and has taken to reflecting on her life -- a life that has been shored up by routine and royal duty. In a rare moment when she is not surrounded by members of her staff, she leaves Buckingham Palace and heads off to Paxton & Whitfield on Jermyn Street to buy cheese. 

What follows is the fun and I won't spoil a minute of it by telling you of her adventures. Suffice it to say, it turns out that Mrs. Queen is not made of the stuff of Windsor  Castle - stone. She is like many of us of a certain age: frustrated with technology but willing to fight the fight; listens to an internal nanny, her conscience, that lets her know what is the next right thing to do; and, has experienced a annus horribilis - or two.

Also, she misses her mother.

But the novel is not only about The Queen. It also looks at The Downstairs of Buckingham Palace. It takes quite a few members of staff to dress, accompany, transport, protect, schedule, advise, serve, and ease the way of The Queen. They each have their own ambitions and resentments, heartbreaks and fears which they put aside in their desire to attend to Her Majesty.

This is the perfect book to tuck into with a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit, preferably chocolate. So throw on your silk headscarf and hop on board as Mrs. Queen Takes the Train.