The Queen's Secret

A Novel of England's World War II Queen

By: Karen Harper

Narrated by: Bianca Amato

If you love Jennifer Robson or The Crown you will love New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper’s novel about Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

1939. As the wife of the King George VI and the mother of the future queen, Elizabeth—“the queen mother”—shows a warm, smiling face to the world. But it’s no surprise that Hitler himself calls her the “Most Dangerous Woman in Europe.” For behind that soft voice and kindly demeanor is a will of steel.

Two years earlier, George was thrust onto the throne when his brother Edward abdicated, determined to marry his divorced, American mistress Mrs Simpson. Vowing to do whatever it takes to make her husband’s reign a success, Elizabeth endears herself to the British people, and prevents the former king and his brazen bride from ever again setting foot in Buckingham Palace.

The Elizabeth holds many powerful cards, she’s also hiding damaging secrets about her past and her provenance that could prove to be her undoing.

In this riveting novel of royal secrets and intrigue, Karen Harper lifts the veil on one of the world’s most fascinating families, and how its “secret weapon” of a matriarch maneuvered her way through one of the most dangerous chapters of the century.

Enjoyed it, a great historical story

I enjoyed this very much. The royals are folks just like us…. no different. We all have historical skeletons in closets, but what was horrific years ago, doesn’t seem quite so bad now a days.

Interesting POV

I enjoyed learning about the Queen Mum, although since this is a historical novel, I don’t know how much of it is fact. Some of the key points in the story are pretty clearly fiction, which disappointed me. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I won’t provide examples, but it did seem like the author could have had a successful career writing for tabloid newspapers. The narrator did a great job using different voices—one of the best I’ve ever heard.

Interesting story

I loved the story. The performance was like it was being told by the Queen.

Great performance, bland story

As others have stated, the story got redundant as the main character would talk over and over about “the secret”. I would have enjoyed more of what the Queen actually experienced during the war. But the performance was wonderful and the main reason I kept going to the anticlimactic end.

An amazing woman

I enjoyed learning more about this wonderful lady. I think quite a bit of the story though is just speculation. I’m sure the real lady was quite wonderful.