Coronation Year

A Novel

By: Jennifer Robson

Narrated by: Karen Cass, Susan Vinciotti Bonito, Vidish Athavale

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.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

I’ve been waiting for this.

Read it the minute it came out and not disappointed!! Totally not what I was expecting but very pleased. Was some what bittersweet with the passing of the Queen so recently. Highly recommend reading!

Warm and delightful story

This book follows on from The Gown and other wonderful novels by Jennifer Robertson. Highly recommended for the story and the characters.

Unfortunately, the narration suffered from being split between three narrators, with the narrator for Stella being the weakest of the three. It would’ve been better to have one person carry the whole story. But don’t let that put you off!

Enjoyable story

I think this novel and this audiobook version are top notch. The story got me involved in each character's life, and the narrators brought them to life!

It was not what I expected

I thought the story would be more about 1953 Coronation times. It is more about the personalities of characters living in an historical hotel, their struggles and interactions. The Coronation only came at the very end. Oh well, my bad for hoping it was something other.

Improbable Story

I really enjoyed The Gown, and I hoped for something similar with Coronation Year. Spoiler Alert! It’s like the writer just gave up. Characters that had been relatively well developed suddenly launch into action against an improbable foe doing improbable things. I got 90% of the way through it and no longer cared if they all blew up. And what about the Queen? Her face is on the cover! Of course you can’t judge a book by the cover, but between the cover and the title, I’d hoped to get some kind of storyline including her? Perhaps it’s in the last ten percent? The first thing the sociopath wants to do after murdering everyone is redecorate?!