I can remember considering the implications at the conclusion of Widowland and allowing my imagination to turn somersaults at what might have happened next. I could have written a book! I didn’t! But, thankfully, the author, C.J. Carey did! And I’ve just finished Queen High and I’m high (a literary high, just to clarify!) None of my fancies matched the rich imagination of this author. It’s mind blowing.
Much dystopian fiction offers us an alternate landscape that is one step removed from our current realities. But what C.J. Carey has done is to interweave an Orwellian dystopia within a recognisable framework, historically and geographically. That somehow makes things all the more chilling.
If the big shock of Widowland was the concept of Germany ruling Great Britain then the shock here is that Wallis Simpson is the reigning monarch! Perhaps the impact of that is more intensified given recent events.
It was a pleasure, (and a relief after the end of Widowland) to make the acquaintance of Rose Ransom again. The caste system for females is still in place and she remains in her position at the Culture Ministry where she is now working on poetry, outlawed by the Alliance, but it plays a big part in this new story.
With a presidential visit from the US imminent Rose is thrust into a situation where she is required to visit the Queen and report back. It seems there are concerns as to Queen Wallis’s state of mind. When Rose meets her she claims to have an inflammatory document in her possession that would rock the Protectorate. And more than that I will not divulge.
The character of Rose again intrigued me. A paradox between wanting to conform and exist below the radar yet with an impassioned need to oppose what she knows is an unbalanced system. Her courage is understated. Her anxiety and fear often palpable yet she takes the situation that she’s in and moulds it to as desirable an outcome as she believes possible. Her affinity and compassion for her fellow women is commendable and give substance to this being a work of feminist fiction as well as dystopian fiction.
Wallis Simpson is another interesting character in the book. Because, of course, she was a real person and subject to factual scrutiny. But the character in the book conforms, certainly, to all of my perceptions about Wallis Simpson, from her physical appearance to her attitudes.
The majority of male characters seemed to be of similar type and outlook creating an ‘us and them’ type scenario. They were very authoritarian. It was hard to warm to any of them really. But I don’t think we are supposed to.The emphasis is on the women in the book who showed themselves to be intelligent, warm and resourceful.
If you enjoyed the excellent Widowland then this is a must read for you. I am so hoping that it doesn’t end here. I’m hoping there will be another story soon.
My thanks to Milly Reid at Quercus books for a gifted copy and a place upon the blog blast.
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