Queendom Come

by Ellen Galford

Written by the author of "Moll Cutpurse: Her True History" and "The Fires of Bride", this is a fantastic, political and satirical novel set into time past and time present, taking a piercing and surreal look at the politics of the 1980s and 1990s.

Genres: Fantasy, LGBT, Feminism

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 1990

About the author

Ellen Galford is a Scottish writer of fiction and nonfiction.

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get on with this one. Having really enjoyed The Dyke and the Dybbuk, I assumed I would love this as well. I found it far too satirical for my liking and felt Galford was trying too hard to make it funny (whereas The Dyke and The Dybbuk felt naturally amusing).

I laboured through the first few chapters, then skim read for a while before giving up altogether.

Not my cup of cha. Sorry Ellen.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at Gay’s the Word in London and it was a delightful read. For a 20-year-old political parody, it held up pretty well (which is a tad unsettling).

[Emily Davies (libraryofcalliope) · Rating 5 out of 5]

'𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦,' 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, '𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘮!'
—
So I found this gem in a bookshop I haven't visited for years. This book was bizarre, niche, and brilliantly funny.
Albanna, a Celtic queen, has finally returned as promised to deliver her people from their time of need... said time of need being the result of an unnamed Conservative female Prime Minister who has ushered in an era of homophobic legislation, privatisation, unregulated capitalism, and 'traditional values'. Naturally, any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental...
The book is sarcastic and satirical, but also doesn't take itself too seriously as evidenced by the love story of Albanna's High Priestess, Gwhyldis, and a local disgraced lesbian doctor who teaches children The Red Flag as soon as she is left alone with them. It targets subjects ranging from lesbian subcultures to political public relations with the same wit and sense of morality, which I really enjoyed.
This was a bizarre find, and at times, it felt like the book had been written specifically for me. Naturally, I have ordered every other book Galford has written

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant satire/fantasy that examines British politics that are ultra conservative & overly politician friendly in the light of the reemergence of an ancient British Queen Amazon - Albanna & her High Priestess Gwhyldis.
Also had one of the best disclaimers: A world where the dead can walk is, it goes without saying, a work of fiction. Therefore please note that all human beings, politicians, and institutions mentioned are completely imaginary, and any resemblance to actual individuals, etc., is purely a case of life borrowing from art.

[Kimberly Azumah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

incredibly witty. usually i find satire a little grating after a while but i think the jokes and metaphors about Thatcher’s government were genuinely hilarious. i can’t believe this book isn’t more popular for depicting the political climate of the 80s as i feel like it really gave a holistic view of Thatcherite Britain outside of the typical Southern England lens of London.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, especially at the start, & hugely entertaining! I will never see Arthur’s Seat in the same way again.
Til Queendom come!

[Esmé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully funny, totally kooky, a very of-its-time work of Scottish Lesbian fantasy social commentary [trust me there was a spate of them, it's a very interesting niche.]

This is a work of distinctly 80s political satire, set against the backdrop of an exaggerated, dystopian Thatcherite Britain, and using magical realism and comedy to probe the immorality and ridiculousness of the Conservative regime. Depressingly a lot of it still holds up. Thankfully, all of the criticisms still hold up too.

Required reading for inter-sectional feminists working and living in Tory run Britain, was on my Uni reading list (one of them at least) should be on everyone's.

[Veronica]

I'm adding a shelf for books recommended by the Feminist SciFi blog of books to read this election season.

[Dogsandbooks]

Donated to DPL July 2015