Alan Benett is the playwright famous for The Madness of King George III. In this new novella, he turns his attention to another British monarch, the reigning Queen Elizabeth.
While out walking the corgies, Elizabeth stumbles across a mobile library. She borrows a book out of a sense of duty, but very quickly finds herself immersed in the world of literature. The Queen finds herself ignoring duty in order to find time to read.
This was a lovely piece of fiction. The examination of the addiction to reading and how books change a person was so worth the time. The fact that the person happens to be the Queen is an added bonus. In fact, it was easy to see myself in her given my addiction to reading.
Go get this.