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    Mrs Queen Takes the Train
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    Mrs Queen Takes the Train
    Unavailable
    Mrs Queen Takes the Train
    Audiobook9 hours

    Mrs Queen Takes the Train

    Written by William Kuhn

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    William Kuhn's delightful fictional debut features an endearing runaway Queen Elizabeth on the town.

    Earphones Award Winner. "Simon Prebble gives an impeccable performance in this story about Queen Elizabeth's spontaneous and unescorted journey on a train, which throws the staff of the Royal Household into chaos... Prebble's pacing with the Queen's soft-spoken, intentional speech is spot-on, as are his flawless transitions from one character's accent to the next. His intentionally exaggerated American and Indian accents and his rendering of the subtle differences between various English accents make a charming story even more entertaining. A sweet treat for Anglophiles." - AudioFile Magazine

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateOct 16, 2012
    ISBN9781624060540
    Unavailable
    Mrs Queen Takes the Train
    Author

    William Kuhn

    William Kuhn is a biographer and historian, and the author of Reading Jackie, Democratic Royalism, Henry & Mary Ponsonby, and The Politics of Pleasure. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. This is his first novel. His next book, a work of historical fiction, explores the friendship over nearly forty years of Isabella Stewart Gardner and John Singer Sargent.

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    Reviews for Mrs Queen Takes the Train

    4/5

    217 ratings36 reviews

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    • 3/5
      3.5 This is a charming book with quirky characters and a quirky plot line. I think that the author could have given us more character development; it felt like he was rushed in trying to fit in the back stories and motivation for each. Still, I recommend the book. It was a fun read and something a little different--it's not every day Queen Elizabeth walks out of the palace incognito in a black hoodie and then proceeds to travel to Scotland on her own.
    • 1/5
      A nice book. It has a '50s feel to it. If you want 'nice' and no violence and a tale that is in no way gripping, this is the book for you. I was sick at the time and needed a book to kill time; it succeeded.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars -- would've given it 4 but it dragged a bit in the middle. Still, the last 75 pages made up for that. Overall, a fun read from an author who's obviously done his homework.
    • 4/5
      Extremely enjoyable quick read. Republican or monarchist this is a great little story about so much more than the queen having an existential crisis. Both enjoyable and understandable this is a genuinely good read.
    • 4/5
      A slightly amusing albeit very predictable book about the fictonal "Queen Elizabeth II," who takes a public train to Scotland. Great quote from the book, "The Queen would rather give Putin a pedicure than go to a rock concert!" <<<
    • 3/5
      Started off charming, but I got a bit bogged down with all the characters (except Rajiv--he was great all the way through). I felt at the end The Queen was sort of channeling Diana, but then, I guess she was meant to have learned from her. A fun read.
    • 4/5
      Queen Elizabeth takes off for Scotland solo, pursued by the attendants who care for her. Funny, well written. Great read for Anglophiles or for the beach this summer.
    • 4/5
      A slightly amusing albeit very predictable book about the fictonal "Queen Elizabeth II," who takes a public train to Scotland. Great quote from the book, "The Queen would rather give Putin a pedicure than go to a rock concert!" <<<
    • 4/5
      The publisher says: An absolute delight of a debut novel by William Kuhn...Mrs Queen Takes the Train wittily imagines the kerfuffle that transpires when a bored Queen Elizabeth strolls out of the palace in search of a little fun, leaving behind a desperate team of courtiers who must find the missing Windsor before a national scandal erupts. Reminiscent of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, this lively, wonderfully inventive romp takes readers into the mind of the grand matriarch of Britain’s Royal Family, bringing us an endearing runaway Queen Elizabeth on the town—and leading us behind the Buckingham Palace walls and into the upstairs/downstairs spaces of England’s monarchy. My impression: What a fun book! This light, cheery, and surprisingly introspective work looks at the burdens of isolation, old age, and changing mores not just in Merry Olde England, but with enough panache to allow us to apply it anywhere. Some might see it merely as a somewhat pedantic view of the value of maintaining a monarchy. Kuhn chooses to portray a Queen who is struggling to do her duty as she has been taught and to be human with all the fatigue, self-doubt, and anxiety that goes with growing old, watching loved ones die, worrying about children, and trying to figure out what life is all about before it's over.Just imagine Her Majesty traipsing through the streets of rainy London with no umbrella, wearing her trademark head scarf and a borrowed hoody with a skull and crossbones on the back. It can only get better from there. This one is a short read, but is not one to be brushed aside. For me it was a perfect palate cleanser from a steady diet of ponderous, dark, and often pompous literary fiction. Books like this one make reading fun, and at the same time give us a glimpse of what might be ahead.I got this one in audio because it was right there for the picking. It was a great choice. Definitely recommended.
    • 4/5
      Reading this was a lot of fun. Maybe it is not as good as Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader, but still it very enjoyable, with a cast of characters who are entertaining and appealing. The character of the Queen is beautifully done and the whole book is both funny and mildly thought provoking about the usually very ordinary lives other people live.
    • 4/5
      It must be difficult being famous. To be so surrounded by others for security and so tightly scheduled that you can't deviate from the usual and have no chance to do things on the spur of the moment could certainly become chafing, especially after years of living this way. It must be a bit like when you're young and you have to wait for mommy all the time before you could do the most intriguing things, simple things like crossing the street and other great adventures of that ilk. In William Kuhn's new novel, Mrs. Queen Takes the Train, Queen Elizabeth defies the strictures under which she's lived most of her life, leaves Buckingham Palace incognito, and takes a train north all because she wants to visit the moored Britannia, the decommissioned royal yacht where she once spent many happy hours. Her disappearance brings together very disparate members of her household in the effort to locate her and keep her safe without alerting the press and her subjects to her absence. The Queen is having one of those days we all face, a day where she is vaguely down and can't decide what she wants to do with herself so she chooses to start with her horses, visiting the royal Mews and speaking with a stable hand, Rebecca, who notices that Her Majesty is not dressed for the weather and subsequently gives the Queen her own hoodie, emblazoned with a skull on the back. It is in this completely out of character clothing that the Queen is not recognized by some workers, giving her the idea that she could take a small trip to other spots that have given her pleasure long ago. And so she heads out without so much as a by your leave to anyone at the palace. Interspersed with the Queen's unusual peregrinations, are woven the stories of several of her staff, those who will form a tense and worried alliance as they set out to find HRH. These include Rebecca, the stable hand in the Mews whose hoodie the Queen is wearing on her walkabout and who, like some of her charges, is spooked by people and only at ease with animals; Rajiv, a clerk at a local cheese shop who has hired on occasionally for events at the Palace and who has snapped undercover photos of the Queen to later sell to the tabloids; the Queen's equerry Luke, who is a decorated young veteran still grappling with a terrible loss in the war; William, one of the butlers to the Queen, a man to whom his job is a calling and who takes immense pride in doing it well even if it means that his life outside his work is a lonely one; the Queen's dresser, Shirley, who followed her mother and grandmother into service at the palace and who harbors a real affection for the Queen, and Lady Anne, one of the Queen's ladies in waiting who accepts these opportunities at the palace in order to supplement her very meager widow's income and whose son has long been estranged from her. The stories of each of these very different people come out in flashbacks and ruminations as the story progresses and they follow the Queen to Edinburgh, learning more about each other and delving beneath the surface impressions to the real core of the person beneath. And the Queen on her walkabout has the chance to interact with regular British people from all walks of life beyond the well-scripted engagements, openings, and events on her social calendar. She learns some uncomfortable truths about the monarchy and the vision of what it means to a modern day Britain, leading her to wonder if she can fit into the modern world, one of baffling computers and technology, or if she's as much a relic of times past as the royal train (now on the chopping block) and the Britannia (simply a tourist attraction). In addition to the question of the place of the monarchy in today's world, the varied people in the Queen's employ and those she encounters during her incognito journey highlight many other prevalent social issues as well: racism, gay rights and homophobia, poverty--genteel and otherwise, animal rights, etc. Kuhn has done a marvelous job weaving all of these together into a delightful and charming read without negating their import. There's a real depth of heart here in this lovely novel. Anglophiles will love it as much for the look into upper and working class realities as for the humanizing view of one of the world's longest reigning monarchs.
    • 3/5
      It was a fun enough storyline, with interesting characters with different backgrounds. It really bugged me that the action kept jumping backward when the book switched persepctives though, to overlap with what had already been covered, at varying lengths (sometimes the same day was covered, sometimes the same hour). Also, there was jumping back years at a time with no indication. Finally, the ending was rather too nicely sewn up, with everyone going away in a pair. But I did appreciate the historical detail and local color. Oh, and there were small pictures randomly inserted. Different. Not sure how I feel about them. Not distracting, really, but not needed. An attempt to help the modern reader? If so, a bit patronizing.
    • 5/5
      What a strange but wonderful little book. Set nowishly, Mrs Queen Takes the Train follows Queen Elizabeth through a day when she's feeling a little down and decides the solution is to visit some of her favorite things (yep, like the song). She starts with a little wander to the Royal Mews but ends up straying further afield to a cheese shop in London that sells to the Palace and then all the way to Edinburgh to visit the decommissioned royal yacht, Britannia. Naturally, this causes a bit of a panic among her staff, who scramble to find her and to keep the news of The Queen's going "walkabout" away from the press. The novel is really the story of her staff (a young woman who works in the Mews, a young man from the cheese shop, a young vet currently serving as her equerry, one of the Palace senior butlers, her dresser, and one of her ladies in waiting) as much as it is the story of The Queen's Day Out. And somehow Kuhn manages to pull it all together and tell a satisfying story, one that does justice to all of his characters.The novel is not perfect, however. The question (brought up repeatedly) of whether The Queen hasn't gone just a little peculiar is never really resolved. (Though the suggestion that she might be depressed is handled well.) It's clear in the end that The Queen knows what she's about and feels a renewed sense of how she can serve her country through her position, but one never fully understands whether The Queen has come round to her senses or was simply more sensible than everyone else all along. And the failure to answer that question rankles a bit, especially since this is a novel about a real person, still living. Is Kuhn making some sort of statement about The (real) Queen? Is it even possible to read the book without assuming he is, given his subject matter? If he is, what was the statement? If he's not, what does that mean? You write a novel about a sitting monarch, you can't pretend you haven't written a novel about a sitting monarch. What do you mean by it, Will? You can't escape the question by not answering it, dang it. (I had pretty much the same problem with Allan Bennett's wonderful The Uncommon Reader--brilliant novella, but it doesn't fully account for itself, somehow.) So there's that little niggle twitching away the whole time one's reading, and it can't help but detract a bit from the experience. But the novel manages to be lovely anyway, so. My only other quibble is Kuhn's use of pictures. Every so often, the text includes a black and white reproduction of a real photograph--sometimes of The Queen, sometimes of people she knew or places referenced in the story. Why? I ask you. Why? It doesn't rise to an experiment with form, but neither does it sit comfortably in the tradition of illustrated classics or the like. It seems only to underline the fact that the novel is about a Real Person, which, honestly, who could have missed that? These complaints aside, this was one fun, engaging, satisfying read. (I can imagine myself just flipping through and rereading some bits just for the joy of returning to them--especially the scenes with Luke, the equerry, who should have his own book.) It will almost surely be in my top five reads for the year. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      The Queen borrows a skull hoodie and hops a train. How could it not be a good book? Great narrator.
    • 4/5
      Her Majesty is feeling unusually sad. Having survived the negative press following Princess Diana's death, she finds herself feeling useless and longing for days gone by. When a chance opportunity arises, the Queen takes leave from Buckingham Palace, setting off a chain of events. Several unlikely characters find themselves wrapped up in the hunt to retrieve the Queen, and discover more about themselves along the way. It appears that the Queen's departure, opened up a world for herself and those who try to find her.
    • 4/5
      this story was at times quite charming, in a similar vein to the Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader. Against the backdrop of today's modern technology world, Kuhn paints an interesting portrait of Britian through a changing - or unchanging - social, political and generational lens. Kuhn takes the living monarch and presents her as an elderly woman struggling with the possibility that she may be a relic of the past. The story doesn't get bogged down with examining the Queen' troubling thoughts, but it does get a bit bogged down in setting the stage and explaining all of the characters. The plot really only takes off around the half-way mark so some patience while reading - or listening - this this one is required. The story is just as much about the royal attendants as it is about the Queen and I found it a little frustrating how the story would jump around from character to character and back and forth through time, which made it a bit challenging to follow as an audiobook that I was only listening to in half hour intervals. The characters are a very nice cross section of the population and their situations provide the social and generational examination that Kuhn appears to be focusing his story on. While some sections of the book were a bit 'cheesy' but they do help brighten the story. There are enough modern history references to provide some readers with a nostalgic feel while reading this one. I did enjoy the Queen's incognito interactions with the British populous, sans handlers, although it was a bit far-fetched that no one recognized who they were having a conversation with.... although some did think they recognized the voice from somewhere. I also felt that the book carried on past what I thought was the logical conclusion. The narration by Simon Pebble was good but didn't add a great deal to my enjoyment of the story beyond the voice he provided for the character Rajiv. Overall, an entertaining, if somewhat rambling story but not something I would recommend unless you enjoyed The Uncommon Reader and don't mind reading a book that builds upon vignette moments of modern history of the royal family interspersed with the stories of the other characters.
    • 3/5
      Started off charming, but I got a bit bogged down with all the characters (except Rajiv--he was great all the way through). I felt at the end The Queen was sort of channeling Diana, but then, I guess she was meant to have learned from her. A fun read.
    • 4/5
      I received this book via LibraryThing. It took a little while to set up and explain the context of all the characters but that was very interesting in itself. The story was very charming throughout and very believable, probably because it was obviously that the author has done a lot of research into this subject. I loved this book and did not want it to end.
    • 4/5
      The Queen feeling a little down in the dumps, walks to the Mews to see the horses. While there the rain starts and the young woman, Rebecca, who looks after the horses gives the Queen her hoodie to walk back to Buck House. However, workmen not recognizing her, insist she go the long way and the Queen decides she'll go to the cheese shop and get some cheddar. She decides that she wants to go to Scotland to see HMS Britainia, now a tourist attraction. Her equirrey, Lady in Waiting, and personal maid realize she's missing; meanwhile Rebecca and Raji, the cheese shop worker worry about her on her own decide to look after her.Amusing, fun read though improbable. The ending was a little too pat.
    • 5/5
      At turns laugh out loud funny and incredibly moving, William Kuhn's Mrs. Queen Takes the Train follows the Queen, who has not quite been herself and finding herself outside the palace gates accidentally unattended, decides to take advantage of the situation to go buy some cheese. As more members of the palace staff discover her missing, they decide to try to find her before the prss or public discover that she has gone missing. This is a ridiculously charming and funny book that took me by surprise on a number of occasions at how touching it is, as well. If you are a fan of Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader, you will certainly enjoy Mrs. Queen Takes the Train.
    • 4/5
      A delightfully entertaining audiobook that imagines what would happen if Queen Elizabeth were to wander off on her own without informing her household where she was going.
    • 5/5
      This book was an absolute delight. My husband, who usually doesn't care about this "royalty stuff", also read it and demanded an instant sequel to be written. I concur with that assessment.It was a nice way to look into the inner workings of a usually hidden way of running the royal household!
    • 3/5
      It was a fun enough storyline, with interesting characters with different backgrounds. It really bugged me that the action kept jumping backward when the book switched persepctives though, to overlap with what had already been covered, at varying lengths (sometimes the same day was covered, sometimes the same hour). Also, there was jumping back years at a time with no indication. Finally, the ending was rather too nicely sewn up, with everyone going away in a pair. But I did appreciate the historical detail and local color. Oh, and there were small pictures randomly inserted. Different. Not sure how I feel about them. Not distracting, really, but not needed. An attempt to help the modern reader? If so, a bit patronizing.
    • 4/5
      A good read that gives plausible pictures into certain staff members of Buckingham Palace - although fictional, the author has put enough details so that it could be real people. (although you know they're not, minus Queen Elizabeth II.)
    • 5/5
      This book was an absolute delight - highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      Is the second time I've listened to this very satisfying story. Some friends were concerned that this would be an attack on their queen, but it's definitely not that! Much more a loving character study about how someone in her position lives and grows.
    • 3/5
      This was cute. Like other recent books that attempt to humanize the Queen (The Reluctant Reader), the author takes on an aloof story telling air (or maybe that's just a British literary thing?). It was a nice diversion, and an interesting thought experiment about what goes on inside the Queen's head.
    • 4/5
      I picked this up after reading a positive review from one of my friends here on Goodreads (Yes, Melinda, you) and am pleased to say I enjoyed it quite a lot.

      It's a unique story that's for sure - Queen Elizabeth II impulsively sets off on a train journey across the United Kingdom whilst feeling sombre and during the journey reflects upon her life and comes to a few realisations.

      It's good to see more books touching on mental illness (specially depression in this case) which don't typecast the sufferer as "crazy".

      Overall, I found Mrs Queen Takes the Train to be a nice easy going read, light and enjoyable with a mix of history throughout which kept it both interesting and entertaining.

    • 4/5
      This might be my sole venture in 2013 outside of the crime fiction genre. It proved to be a delightful romp, witty and at the same time poignant. The Queen, in an effective although unwitting disguise, sees herself as her subjects see her. Worried that she is "not quite herself" members of her household set out in search for her to prevent scandal erupting.Meanwhile "Little Bit" is enjoying herself buying cheese and making new friends. Her personal skills stand her in good stead, making conversations with strangers, many of whom think she reminds them on "someone", but can't quite put a finger on it. Perhaps Helen Mirren? one thinks.The central story is surrounded by insights into the royal household and the problems they face as the Queen ages.
    • 3/5
      The novel had some charming moments but mostly I found it a bit boring. I found myself speed reading pages and skipping paragraphs in order to finish. Maybe I didn't devote the amount of attention that this novel needs in order to enjoy it.