The Autobiography of the Queen - Emma Tennant (2007)Even though I have a mountain of study to do, and a garden that needs tending to the lure of the library on a rotten wild windy and wet Saturday afternoon was too much. Also the fact that the library has one of the few public toilets left in the centre of town make it a compelling place to visit.
The new fiction shelves is always my first visit, and I liked the premise of this little book. It was nice to be able to pick up a book that would fit into my handbag and be useful when out and waiting for friends. Instead I was able to read it before bed on Saturday night, upon wakening on Sunday morning and finished it while drying my hair a half hour later.
This is a work of fiction, and starts with the Queen packing a bag and leaving her family and nation and escaping to St Lucia in the Caribbean. The idea of her escaping amused me - I wouldn't have lasted a week in that job. I felt it fell flat though and couldn't get over the feeling that surely someone would have recognised her. I have seen the Queen once, when at high school in the 80s she toured our small New Zealand town. We were given the afternoon off as long as we wore our uniforms and stood and waved. She stopped a few feet away and told a schoolmate that she liked our uniforms (they were hideous).
So little book, I am sorry it is a 2/5 from me. It was sweet that you were teeny tiny enough to fit into my handbag, sorry I did not get to take you out anywhere.
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