Publisher: William Morrow Books, April 4, 2023

Format: ebook

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

The USA Today bestselling author of The Gown returns with another enthralling and royal-adjacent historical novel—as the lives of three very different residents of London’s historic Blue Lion hotel converge in a potentially explosive climax on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation.

It is Coronation Year, 1953, and a new queen is about to be crowned. The people of London are in a mood to celebrate, none more so than the residents of the Blue Lion hotel.

Edie Howard, owner and operator of the floundering Blue Lion, has found the miracle she needs: on Coronation Day, Queen Elizabeth in her gold coach will pass by the hotel’s front door, allowing Edie to charge a fortune for rooms and, barring disaster, save her beloved home from financial ruin. Edie’s luck might just be turning, all thanks to a young queen about her own age.

Stella Donati, a young Italian photographer and Holocaust survivor, has come to live at the Blue Lion while she takes up a coveted position at Picture Weekly magazine. London in celebration mode feels like a different world to her. As she learns the ins and outs of her new profession, Stella discovers a purpose and direction that honor her past and bring hope for her future.

James Geddes, a war hero and gifted artist, has struggled to make his mark in a world that disdains his Indian ancestry. At the Blue Lion, though, he is made to feel welcome and worthy. Yet even as his friendship with Edie deepens, he begins to suspect that something is badly amiss at his new home.

When anonymous threats focused on Coronation Day, the Blue Lion, and even the queen herself disrupt their mood of happy optimism, Edie and her friends must race to uncover the truth, save their home, and expose those who seek to erase the joy and promise of Coronation Year.

My Review:

Read if you like: historical mysteries.
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If you are going to consume any coronation content this year, let it be this book.
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The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is the backdrop for this book and it was so fun. We follow three characters-Edie owns the Blue Lion, a hotel that is struggling and so she is hoping that the coronation will bring business to the hotel. Stella is an Italian photographer hoping to start new after surviving the Holocaust. And then there’s Jamie who is hired to paint a picture of the coronation, and so he stays at the Blue Lion to get the right spot. He is also a war veteran struggling with PTSD and the racism he experiences for being half-Indian.
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I really loved how these three stories were interconnected and I was fully engaged. A fun book!
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Thank you William Morrow for the copy of this book.