Karen Harper

"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 ... 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 ... 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"--Publisher marketing.

A Novel of England's World War II Queen

The Queen's Secret

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. 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.

Kayla 

There are actually several secrets the Queen Mum keeps under wraps in this one . One of them was particularly dark and disturbing. I was shocked by the detail of it. I’ll leave a content warning at the end.

I believe only one of the secrets was actually based on the truth but I don’t know that much about the Queen Mum so I can’t really confirm lol.

This book was definitely slow moving, as I expected it to be, I mean even though it is set during WWII being the wife of the King meant that there wasn’t that much action for you to really partake in.

I felt like the author could have made it a little more interesting. I just felt like the secrets kept popping up and you think oh here’s some drama but then it just falls kind of flat.

I think I can sum up my overall feelings as ‘I like it but I didn’t love it.’

Judy McClure

I would actually rate this a 2 1/2 stars. Was so excited to read this book. Was so disappointed in it. The writing wasn't great and I found I had to reread sentences to figure out what was being said which then made getting lost in the book impossible. Was not overly invested in the characters and never connected with any of them. Did the author really have to repeat the Queen's secrets pretty much in every chapter??? After awhile instead of compassion I began to feel annoyed. Meh!!!!

Jelke Lenaerts

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review  
This book has content warnings for rape and mention of suicide.

I don't know what exactly compelled me to request this book as I'm usually not really a fan of WWII fiction. However, I did request this book and actually really enjoyed it. The middle part did drag a little and felt a bit repetetive, so that's mainly why I docked a star. For this rest I think this gives a nice and different perspective on the war. I really liked the writing of this book as well as the characterisations. I don't really know much about these people so I can't comment on the historical accuracies but just a characters of a book I can say they were pretty well done. The secrets were a bit anti-climactic as well. I expected them to be a big deal but they weren't really. Either way this book mainly focusses on the war, not the queen's secrets so it wasn't too bothersome to me. I was also surprised that this book covered the entire war. I wasn't expecting that. I don't know why really, it makes sense to cover the entire war. In conclusion, I was very pleasently surprised by this book. I might even pick up more WWII fiction after this.

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. 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.

Rachel Benton

At first I thought that this book was about Queen Elizabeth II, But then I realized that it was Elizabeth Bowes- Lyon. She was the Queen mother, former Queen of England, and consort/wife to King George VI of England. I’ve never read a fictional account of her life before. So I was super excited to get started on this. I have to admit that I was sorely disappointed in this one. I thought that Karen Harper was playing off some of the scandals and rumors that surrounded the Queen at the time. The most outrageous being that Elizabeth and her brother were the products of her father’s affair with the maid. I don’t mind authors embellishing a little bit in a story, after all this is fiction. If I wanted a nonfiction book, I would have gotten a bio on the Queen mother. But for this story, I just felt that it could have been left out. I don’t think it added anything to the story. I think that book could have been a lot better if they focused more on the war. There were things that I enjoyed from the war aspect of things. Like Elizabeth’s relationship with Winston Churchill, who she didn’t trust at first, but developed a close friendship with. Then there was her relationship with King George, the two seemed to grow closer as the war went on. Plus , I like the dynamic of Lilibet and Margaret added to it. Overall, this is not the best book I’ve read. But I would not rule out reading another book by this author.

The Queen's Secret A Novel of England's World War II Queen

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