The Uncommon Reader

Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most famous women in the world. Not just because her portrait is printed on the British currency she possesses a great deal of, but also for her half-century reign and dogged public serenity in light of her family’s extreme public escapades. A fraction of the British cultural landscape she has reigned over encompasses Teddy Boys, the realization of The National Theatre, Frances Bacon, The Beatles, Cats, punk rock, and the careers of several Tony, Oliver, and Nobel-winning British playwrights. One of those playwrights, Alan Bennett, has made HRH the heroine of his delightful new novella The Uncommon Reader.

Like Peter Morgan’s screenplay The Queen, Bennett’s Elizabeth II is admirable. Unlike his previous The Madness of King George, The Uncommon Reader is a speculative imagining of a monarch’s private life. While history and current events mark every page, something more remarkable takes place: after her corgis surround a mobile library parked near the palace grounds, the Queen becomes an avid reader. She forms a Buckingham Palace book club of two with Norman, a (fictionalized) young member of kitchen staff – and the only one within her confined lifestyle who shares her love of reading.

Much to the annoyance of her family, senior staff, Prime Minister (unnamed but most likely modeled on Tony Blair), and heads of state, books become Elizabeth’s vocation. These influential, allegedly well educated non-readers fail noticing that the Queen’s reading makes her happy. “One reads for pleasure. It is not a public duty,” she informs her (also fictionalized) private secretary. Yet reading bonds Elizabeth with her subjects and their shared culture, making her as knowledgeable as her extraordinary namesake and ancestor.

Bennett takes Uncommon Reader readers and Elizabeth on a 120-page literary treasure hunt. Ackerley, Beaton, Forster, the Mitfords, Woolf, and, yes, Shakespeare are among the famous British authors dropped into the dialogue and narration. While the Harry Potter phenomenon is poked gentle fun at, the author also takes jabs at his own History Boys and The Lady in the Van. The Queen eventually reads on from her homeland writers to those beyond her kingdom’s former boundaries. These references and in-jokes prove that even the most regal bibliophile doesn’t need Oprah or a tenured professor to find the labyrinthine path books lead.

The Uncommon Reader is a fun mix of fact and fiction. Alan Bennett’s re-imaginings of Queen’s public duties would be truly memorable if they ever took place. The one serious message is that the rich and powerful depicted in this brief tale seldom appreciate the wonderful things they pay for or can afford. They define their lives by class and influence – not enlightenment.

It is worth mentioning that the real Prince Charles does appreciate a good read. This information on the Prince of Wales won’t be found in either the US or UK edition of OK!, but in the memoirs of actor Sir Antony Sher art historian Sir Roy Strong.