A fire spreads through a house, threatening to engulf the six tenants: a failed priest, an atheist neurosurgeon, and an obsessive photographer, along with a naturalist, a schoolboy, and a traveller. Each has lived a fascinating life, conjured in Thubron’s lyrical prose. But, as the inferno courses through the building, we start to notice inexplicable resonances between the lives of the tenants: motifs that recur and details that repeat, and that surely cannot all be explained as coincidence. Alternative history paralleling current events. Instead of books being totally banned, they are subtly rewritten to reflect the reality that the "Alliance" decided is for the good of the children. They will believe the written word, a subtle brainwashing technique. Females are categorized by "childbearing" abilities and those who are not married or widowed are "put out to pasture" literally and figuratively. Women are not to use their brains until a certain age lest they believe that they have as much to offer society as men. Sounds familiar??? Part 1984, part The Handmaid’s Tale, Queen Wallis goes down the road of What Ifs and it’s truly frightening to think of what could have happened had Churchill not been Prime Minister. In Queen Wallis, Rose Ransom, hero of Widowland, is tasked with rewriting poetry because all poetry is deemed subversive because it can contain hidden meanings. This is seen as a very important position, and because Rose is highly regarded, she’s also been asked to interview Queen Wallis to determine her sanity. President Eisenhower and his wife are on their way to England to visit, and the Protectorate is concerned Wallis may say or do something to jeopardize diplomatic relations with the United States.

Some parts requires a bit of suspension of belief but I found the book highly entertaining and gripping. Rose Ransom belongs to the elite caste of women and works at the Ministry of Culture, rewriting literature to correct the views of the past. But now she has been given a special task.So I'm really not the target audience for this book - I expected something more 'literary', and this is more of a Jolly Good Romp. And how different is our world in 2022, in the expectations that it places on women, judging them by their appearance rather than the quality of their character? How overlooked and ignored are the elderly, especially in the aftermath of a pandemic in which so many were infected in their own rooms in our care homes? I admire Carey’s ability to tell a riveting tale of a dystopian society. I had lavished ‘Widowland’ with praise for its powerful storyline, the attention to detailing the everyday lives in the 1950s Anglo-Saxon Alliance, and its celebration of the power of literature. Rose is editing classic poetry now in this sequel to the book editing position she had in Widowland. This was not as engaging; Rose is limp and Queen Wallis is not really that central to this story line. But it's an interesting read, and scary thinking about how easily this type of editing could be done today.

Widowland was one of my favorite reads this year, and having received a copy of Queen Wallis from the publishers, I couldn't wait to dive into the next installment of the Rose Ransom series. But truthfully, I did finish the sequel feeling a little more conflicted with my final thoughts and review.

Forthcoming Events

I liked it, yes alternative history is so interesting. All those what ifs. The UK turned into a really scary place. So dull and, huh, honestly what I know think of more like Soviet. Grey, mindless drones and everyone spying on you. And then insert crazy German ideologies. The premise was wonderful - what if there was no World War and Britain decided to act for Germany as its Protectorate? Women have been divided into castes. The protagonist is of the higher caste that allows her more freedom yet she has numerous restrictions to pass. Life in Britain is dull and grey. There is a shortage of everything. Our heroine has a good life in comparison to others.

To recap/set the stage: both "Widowland" and "Queen High" take place in Britain in the 1950s -- a Britain that capitulated to/formed an "alliance" with Nazi Germany in 1940 and has been operating under a "Protectorate" since then. Memories of "the Time Before" are fading (and are, in fact, being deliberately suppressed), spies/informants are everywhere, and (shades of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale") women have been classified according to age, heritage, reproductive status and physical attributes, which determines where they live, the rations they receive, the clothes they wear, the kind of work they do, etc. The lowest of the low are the "Friedas" -- childless women and widows over 50 years of age, who eke out a subsistence living in the walled-off slums known as "Widowlands." (I would certainly recommend reading "Widowland" first -- you will get a much better picture of who the characters are, the world they live in and what's happened so far.) C. J. Carey has given us an extremely readable and entertaining book in Widowland. It is a unique look on the power of literature, fiction as well as nonfiction, and the impact it can have on public opinion and shaping the future. As historical fiction it paints a vivid and realistic vision of what censorship can bring. Most readers will enjoy the plot as well as the characters. The subject matter would provide opportunities for book clubs to discuss content as well as the underlying societal implications. Set in a dystopian alternative Britain which became a protectorate of Germany during the second world war , where the royal family has been usurped and the widowed Queen Wallis is a titular head of state with no real power, the book tells the story of Rose Ransom , a key figure from Widowland who is keeping a low profile following the events of that book. As a woman in the protectorate her life is highly regulated with her designated social class determining everything from suitable employment to food rations and even clothing and hairstyles. She despises her work in the " Culture " department where she is responsible for editing or rather censoring the great works of English prose and poetry.. The promise of a state visit from US President Eisenhower drives the Alliance into overdrive , determined to root out subversion and resistance, and Rose finds herself drawn into the hunt. Rose has forgotten what happened two years previous when The Leader was assassinated. The Event has been erased from history and memories. She is fuzzy about her role in what had happened. Rose Ransom, our protagonist, spends her days rewriting literature and 'sanitizing' it for the present day. She removes anything offensive to the powers that be. No exceptions. Play it safe on what is "offensive." But Rose has a big secret--a secret that apparently she has forgotten completely. A secret that readers of the first novel may be aware of. But does someone know her secret? Is she a target?In conclusion… Yes, there are certain historical points that didn’t quite work for me. No, I didn’t find Rose a compelling character in this story. But yes, I still really enjoyed this world. The ending of Queen Wallis leads me to believe that there is a book three in the works, and despite my hesitations about this sequel, you can absolutely believe that I will be first in line to see how this all concludes. I did feel like I was missing a bit of information but honestly, I couldn’t tell you what it was the book didn’t answer. Might be the leap in time or just my silly brain. I loved the plot and how Rose’s job had changed slightly. I also really enjoyed the fact that Rose, although she wasn’t an outright rebel, she was rebelling in her own way. She knew she had to get married and have a lot of kids but she didn’t cave. She knew she would lose her status but she was defiant and I love that in a protagonist. Widowland называется «Книга Розы» и, как ни странно, такая локализация куда удачней простого перевода. Роза мечется между своим отцом, сестрой, любовником, работой, но только книги дают ей возможность трезво посмотреть на свою судьбу и понять, что нужно что-то менять. Every evening Rose Ransom looks in the mirror and marvels that she's even alive. A mere woman, her role in the Leader's death has been miraculously overlooked. She still works at the Culture Ministry, where her work now focuses on the outlawed subject of Poetry, a form of writing that transmits subversive meanings, emotions and signals that cannot be controlled. Therefore all Poetry is banned and Rose is appointed a Poet Hunter. Colin Thubron is an acclaimed travel writer and novelist, whose eight novels and 11 works of non-fiction make up an oeuvre that transports readers around the globe, and deep into the human psyche. His celebrated travel books recount journeys in the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe. A voyage down the Amur River, through Russia and China — completed in his 80th year — is the subject of his most recent book. In his novels, characters are subject to intense pressures: losing their memory, losing a loved one, or losing their minds.

First sentence: If pelicans cared about views, then the pelicans of St. James's Park would appreciate that the view from their home on the lake was the most historic in England. Charles Kerr The author, the historical novelist Jane Thynne. Widowland is her first book published under the pen name C. J. Carey Premise/plot: Queen Wallis is the sequel to Widowland. But is it the thrilling sequel to Widowland? (See my thoughts below). Both books imagine an intriguing what-if. What if Britain had formed an alliance with Nazi Germany instead of fighting in World War II. What would Britain have looked like in the 1950s. Obviously, one can tell from the title, that there would be a Queen Wallis--instead of Queen Elizabeth. Rose is a Geli and so intelligent that she's sent on a top-secret mission to flush out rebel widows before Hitler arrives - the Gestapo and SS can't crush this women's resistance group in Oxford whose most heinous acts are daubing quotations from women's classics on public buildings, but obviously Rose is the Nazi secret weapon. But no, wait, - she eats the widows' bean stew and drinks their mint tea with home-made honey and before we know it, she's questioning all she's ever known (why are Jews being arrested? Is it possible that the Leader is an anti-Semite?) and, newly radicalised, is all set to assassinate Hitler by pouring cyanide over the leather bindings of his favourite book, Frankenstein, so that when he touches it...! (Yep, there's The Name of the Rose, too).I think for me, it ultimately comes down to the fact that I loved the first book so deeply. I probably would have enjoyed Queen Wallis to the same effect, had I not read the first book. As a sequel though, it didn’t grip me in the same way. (Note: Definitely read Widowland before Queen Wallis! It’s not a standalone.) I should probably point out that not liking this too much is more about me than it is about the book. I'm weary of the subjugation -of -women - warning plot-men bad narrative that seems to be the thing at the moment, whilst it's an interesting concept in theory it soon grows old when you realise you are reading basically the same thing in the we start here and end there sense. The Revd Richard Lamey is the Rector of St Paul’s, Wokingham, and Area Dean of Sonning, in the diocese of Oxford.