http://leavesandpages.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/review-coronation-by-paul-gallico...
A working-class family of five, mother, father, two children and grandmother – the mother’s mother – decide to forego their annual seaside vacation and instead spend their meager holiday savings on a day trip to London to view the Coronation procession of Queen Elizabeth II. By a great stroke of luck, they’ve been put on to a wonderful opportunity: window seats in a grand house situated on Hyde Park Corner, plus a buffet lunch. With champagne. All this for only 10£ each – the tickets were marked down from 25£ – an amazing stroke of luck! What a good thing it was that cousin Bert in London was able to make the bargain purchase through one of his “connections”!

Steel mill shift foreman Will Clagg is bestirred by patriotic pride and a deep affection for his young, beautiful Queen; his wife Violet pictures herself elegantly sipping champagne (which she’s never tasted) like one of the film stars she so idolizes; 11-year-old Johnny, who cherishes a deep ambition to one day become an officer in the British Service, is thrilled to be able to see the massive parade of troops from all corners of the Commonwealth; 7-year-old Gwenny has her own private image of what she’ll see, the fairy-tale princess from one of her storybooks, a personal infatuation about to be fulfilled; Granny, the last hold-out to the proposed excursion, swings into agreement when it is pointed out that she saw the Funeral Procession of the last Queen, Victoria; how fitting that she should see the Coronation Procession of this one. “A living link, you are!” her despised son-in-law cries, and Granny lets herself be swayed.

In to London on the Coronation Special from Sheffield, to join the masses of humanity streaming in from every corner of England, and beyond. But when they finally struggle through the crowds to the address of their front-row-seats-and-champagne-lunch, what greets their shocked and unbelieving eyes is something very different from what they had expected… ( )

2023 Review:
2023 is not the first time I've read Coronation by Paul Gallico. I first read this story about Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 back in 2012 and as King Charles III was about to be crowned I couldn't resist a reread. I found it just as lovely the second time around.

It's a short book at around 150 pages but it's packed with atmosphere, and the highs and lows of a momentous day for the Clagg family, a working-class family from Sheffield. Given the choice of travelling to London for the day for the coronation or having their annual two weeks in Morecambe, they decide to go for the once in a lifetime trip to London. They manage to get a special spot to watch the procession whilst imbibing champagne and being waited on, something that for Violet and Will, their two children, Johnny and Gwenny, and Violet's mother, Granny Bonner, is an unimaginable treat. Unfortunately, things don't go to plan on the day and all the way through I was wondering if the day could be salvaged or not.

The story is very evocative of an era when what seem like simple pleasures to us now were not so easy to come by. It's crammed with patriotism, the dreams and hopes of the children, and the weight of failure on the adults, Will in particular. Happily, it ends on a nice note and I found myself smiling quite a lot towards the conclusion. With well-drawn characters who I could picture trudging the streets of London with their excitement ebbing away, and a reminder to try and see the joy in even the most trying situations, Coronation is a gentle delight of a read.

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2012 Review:
Coronation starts with the Clagg family, consisting of mother and father Will and Violet, children Johnny and Gwenny, and Granny Bonner, sitting on a train from Sheffield to London. Will has got five tickets giving his family a wonderful vantage point from which to watch the Coronation in 1953 of Queen Elizabeth II. Everybody is very excited, but the day doesn't quite go to plan.

This ia a short and pleasant story of a family's big trip, after sacrificing their annual holiday to Morecambe for a treat of a lifetime. I enjoyed the characterisations and felt the family's excitement with them, and also the plummeting of their spirits later in the story. Happily, the book ends on a nice note. I think it really sums up the patriotism of the era and reminds us that things weren't always handed to us on a plate. ( )