Book description
The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts
accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library
parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely ( JR Ackerley, Jean
Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett and the classics) and intelligently. Her
reading naturally changes her world view and her relationship with
people like the oleaginous prime minister and his repellent advisers.
She comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses
patience with much that she has to do. In short, her reading is
subversive. The consequence is, of course, surprising, mildly shocking
and very funny.
Alan Bennett is one of the most celebrated writers in Britain today.
His play (and film) The History Boys won seven Emmys in New York and was
the most successful play in the history of the National Theatre. Untold
Stories has sold over 700,000 copies in hardback and paperback. Alan
Bennett was Author of the Year at the 2006 British Book Awards.
