CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN - Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
William Morrow
ISBN: 9780063276215
ISBN10:0063276216
November 2024
Fiction

England - 1950s

It's December 1952 and the new Queen Elizabeth is nervous about giving her first Christmas Day speech over the radio. First of all, there is the grief over the loss of her father, and then suddenly being thrust into the spotlight as the new monarch. As she struggles over what to say to the people of Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations, the young queen hopes she can get some encouragement from someone. 

Single mother Olive Carter, a typist at the BBC but with dreams of being a reporter, is thrilled to be assigned at the last minute to travel to Sandringham House to cover the royal family's Christmas celebrations. While it's only for the day, Olive is stunned when she accidentally meets the queen. And adding to that, as she interviews the kitchen staff, Olive runs into an old friend, American Jack Devereux who has been temporarily hired to help in the royal kitchen. 

Jack, a former U. S. Navy cook, is from New Orleans, but at the end of the European war, he stayed on in London to work in a local restaurant. At one point he and Olive flirted and had a brief date before he saw that another man was interested in her, and he backed off. Then he met their mutual friend, Andrea, and they eventually married. During a dangerous fog in London, however, Andrea was run down and killed on a London street. At odds with his life, Jack hopes that this temporary position with the royals will work out.

Olive and Jack see each other at intervals throughout the year, but their lives seem to be moving in opposite directions. While they both are attracted to each other, their lives are far from static. Olive is again assigned to Sandringham House the next Christmas, and, to her shock, is asked to assist the queen with her Christmas speech. She and Jack meet again, but all too briefly. For Jack, his unexpected chat with the Duke of Edinburgh gives him much to ponder. 

For the next few years, Olive continues to attend Christmas time at Sandringham, and she and Jack continue their on-again, off-again encounters, but each one proves to them that there is a real attraction between them. How can they make it more permaent? And what will happen if the secret in Olive's life is revealed to Jack? 

CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN is a peek into the lives of the royal family behind the scenes, but also shows the people around them as they lead their own personal lives. Olive and Jack may be old friends, but life is never easy when grief and secrets affect their relationship. 

CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN is a sweet and poignant reunion for Olive and Jack, as well as their private encounters with two members of the royal family. 

Jani Brooks