Swéta Rana

The title of this book sold it to me immediately. As a royalist and somebody who was fascinated by the size of the queue to pass our late Queen's coffin I just had to read it.

We follow the queue hour by hour over the course of a day, each chapter covering an area of London along the way. Whilst the people in the queue are pivotal to the story, this book is mainly about mother and daughter, Rani and Tania, their fractured relationship and how being in the queue together helps the fracture to heal. Interspersed throughout are chapters about Rani's life over the years from her early childhood in India and then later when her family moved to England, and then she got married and had Tania. I really enjoyed Rani's story and her culture and background was very interesting to me.

This book is a lovely read about mother/daughter relationships, not just Rani and Tania but also Rani and her own mother. There are some fabulous characters in the queue too, particularly veteran Harold, and young royalist Owen. There's a lot of camaraderie in the queue and strangers quickly become friends. It felt very true to what I imagine it must have been like to stand there in line waiting to pay respects to a long-standing and much respected monarch.

Queuing for the Queen is a delightful debut, sensitive and thoughtful, with a mixture of uplifting joy and moving scenes. I shall be sure to look out for Swéta Rana's next book.… (altro)