The Royal Governess: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth II’s Childhood

There was a time nobody imagined young third-in-line Lilibet succeeding to the throne, least of all the central character in this story, a young, idealistic, and politically-minded woman: Marion Crawford, the royal governess.

Marion Crawford is an actual character from history, infamous at one time but now rarely mentioned and virtually scrubbed from history texts. Through this fictionalized re-telling of her story, the reader will be introduced to many historical and royal personages, ideas, and moments, and some sympathetic speculation about why Crawford did, at the last, what she did. While at times our protagonist seems to make some rather incredible leaps of rationale, and sometimes her idealism is overwhelmingly insistent, the author has made a very honest attempt to stay true to Crawford’s apparent beliefs and concerns.

Readers familiar with Crawford’s story or fans of The Crown will read eagerly as they unravel this rarely followed thread of an erased life. It is the perfect easy-reading summer novel for anyone looking for an imaginative, casual book to slip into their beach bag, drift away into a moment in history not really all that long ago, and peek into the lives of people who, while they may have lived very differently to us, were not really so different after all.