Posted by CatherineNY
on 9/11/2009, 16:35:13, in reply to "Re: NY Times reviews Queen Mother biography"
148.168.40.4
There is a lot of interesting detail in the book, or at least a lot of interesting quotes from letters and other documents we haven't seen before, but after dipping into it quite a lot, I don't think it is a very good biography. It is a bland portrayal of both the subject and most of her family, including George VI. I don't feel I'm getting any new insights as I read -- for example, the author dutifully tells us how many times Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon turned down Prince Albert's proposals, but does not give us any real sense of what she was thinking, why she kept saying no (which was clearly humiliating and painful for Bertie, and infuriated his family), and why she finally said yes. As someone else suggested, this book does not hold a candle to James Pope-Hennessy's biography of Queen Mary. This one seems to be a hagiography. If only Hugo Vickers had been tapped to write the "official" biography! As it is, I recommend his book on the Queen Mother over this one.
As an aside, I am mystified that the NY Times chose Joe Queenan to review the book. He is a terrific writer, but has no expertise on the subject matter that I'm aware of. If they were hoping for a hatchet job on the British Royal Family (Queenan is a humorist), they did not get one -- Queenan seems to have pulled his punches far more than usual.
--Previous Message--
: I have only read into the early 1920's. I did
: enjoy the descriptions of Elizabeth's
: childhood at Glamis and Walden Bury with her
: large and energetic family. But I have the
: feeling that once she'd failed her exams and
: given up academic endeavor for parties,
: Elizabeth changed. Her early life involved
: a picture of upper class British life in the
: early twentieth century, especially during
: World War I. That was when she learned to
: relate easily to everyone, as she did all
: her life. But Lady Elizabeth seemed less
: serious after the war was over and she
: entered the social whirl. Assessing her
: future mostly meant looking over the marital
: prospects. Eventually, as she decided her
: future, the stronger side of her character
: evidently emerged - but I haven't read that
: far.
:
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