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Queen High

Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781529412031

Price: £16.99

ON SALE: 13th October 2022

Genre: Fiction & Related Items / Thriller / Suspense

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A GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH AND FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR



BRITAIN, WITH THE WRONG QUEEN.

1955. Britain remains a Protectorate of Germany. The assassination of the Leader on British soil provoked violent retribution and intensified repression of British citizens, particularly women. Now, more than ever, the Protectorate is a place of surveillance and isolation – a land of spies.

The royal family has been usurped, and the widowed Queen Wallis reigns in their place. Yet some citizens hold out hope that Elizabeth may one day return.

Rose Ransom marvels that she’s even alive. A mere woman, her role in the Leader’s death has been miraculously overlooked. Her work now focuses on the outlawed subject of Poetry, a form of writing that transmits subversive meanings. Therefore all Poetry is banned and Rose is appointed a Poet Hunter.

President Eisenhower is to make a state visit to Britain and Rose is tasked with visiting Queen Wallis to brief her. She finds Wallis in a state of paranoia, desperate to return to her American homeland. She claims she has a secret document so explosive that it will blow the Protectorate apart – should she dare to reveal it.

PRAISE FOR QUEEN HIGH

‘Begins with a bang’ CLARE CHAMBERS

‘Full of twists’ RED

‘A gripping thriller’ BEL MOONEY

‘Exciting and provocative’ OBSERVER

‘Thrilling, subversive’ JANE HARRIS

‘A triumph’ AMANDA CRAIG

‘Enthralling’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘Ingenious’ SABINE DURRANT

What's Inside

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Reviews

It begins with a bang and doesn't let up. There were so many telling references to the current political climate it was frightening. C.J. Carey has created a detailed and convincing alternative universe and a gutsy heroine you really care about
Clare Chambers
A triumph! So often, sequels disappoint, but Queen High is not just as compelling, sinister, satirical and original as Widowland, it's actually better in that it shows us how we might find a way out of tyranny and barbarism
Amanda Craig
Oh, be careful, people! Brilliant C.J. Carey hasn't just written a gripping thriller but holds a satirical mirror up to modern life. And at the heart of Queen High is a serious, passionate belief in the power of women and of books to effect change
Bel Mooney
Carey has built on the world of Widowland just brilliantly. The parallels with contemporary events (how character and history effect attitudes to "rules"; the sense of a political order making it up as it goes along; the role of women) are just ingenious. Wallace too, what a character! I hope it flies off the shelves - it deserves to'
Sabine Durrant
This follow-up is as enthralling as its predecessor
The Sunday Times
Brilliantly imagined and thoroughly chilling, this is a counterfactual tour de force
Guardian
Rose's double life unravels as Carey coldly and cleverly controls the release of who knows what, reflecting the ruthless surveillance techniques of a totalitarian regime where no one trusts anyone
Daily Mail
A brilliant, vividly imagined spine-chilling dystopian thriller
Irish Independent
Words continue to have power both on and off the page as Carey expands her alternate history to good effect
Sci Fi Bulletin
Fascinating novel of alternative history and a suspenseful story
SHOTS Magazine
History as it might have been, wonderfully-sketched characters, crime and conspiracies: a perfect thriller and I can't wait for the next volume'
Crime Time
Irresistible mix of fact, fiction and feminism
Lancashire Evening Post
Another triumph from C.J. Carey in this follow-up to the brilliant Widowland. Thrilling, subversive, page-turning, deeply feminist, and beautifully written
Jane Harris
This is a chilling , compelling read, full of twists and ''what if?'' moments
Red
Exciting and provocative dystopian fiction
Observer