The Queen's Coronation: An Unforgettable and Heartwarming Tale about Female Resilience, Friendship and Courage

by Jennifer Ryan

By Command of The Queen, you are hereby directed to be present at –

There's a lot to get done ahead of the Queen's Coronation, and even more so when your livelihood is at stake.

Lucy Jones is Junior Wardrobe Assistant to the Queen, but dreams of being a singer. Caroline Brimstone loves her role as the Queen's Assistant Dresser, but behind closed doors, she fights for a better life for herself and her daughter. And Miranda Miller, an undercover journalist in the coronation office's planning committee, needs an inside scoop to keep her job – the only thing she has left.

They are all running away from their own demons but in order to succeed, they must shed their shame, trust themselves and reclaim their lives.

As Queen Elizabeth II takes the throne, will these three women be able to take their rightful places in the world?

Genres: Historical Fiction

Audible Audio

Expected publication June 2, 2026

About the author

Jennifer grew up in the British countryside with a penchant for climbing trees and a wonderful grandmother who told her hilarious stories about the Second World War.

As an adult, she became a nonfiction book editor, first editing politics and economics at The Economist Books, and then moving on to the BBC, DK, and other publishers, editing books on health, cooking, wine, and history.

All this time, though, she harbored a longing to share her grandmother's stories about the war, and so she embarked on an MA in fiction at Johns Hopkins University. The novel that she wrote while there--The Chilbury Ladies' Choir--became a National Bestseller.

Please visit Jennifer's website for more information and free giveaways.
www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com

Reviews

[Jackie Mulkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 52 Book Club's 2026 Challenge - #52 - Published in 2026

This book was downloaded from Net Galley as an advanced copy.

This is one great read. I am a Anglophile and a Royalist (but a southern American). This part of history is very interesting to me so I was immediately drawn in. I feel that there are 3 main characters, but Caroline is more main than the others. The characters are well fleshed out and the dialog was interesting and time appropriate. I like being able to look back to 70 years ago and see how much has changed for women. I know that the book was well written due to me getting 2nd hand anxiety for 2 of the other characters. If I am not interested in the book, I can easily just note that people are dumb or making poor choices. I had empathy for them and wanted them to not get emotionally or physically hurt.

The only reason I did not rate this book 5 stars is that I predicted a bit of what was going to happen. However, this will not affect my recommendations to read the book. The characters are well liked and formed, great dialog, chapters are a good length, the story moves along appropriately without dragging, and the length of the book is perfect.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I have read Jennifer Ryan’s previous novels and have enjoyed them immensely, so I knew that this book would hopefully be an enjoyable read, I was not disappointed. The story of three women , Caroline, Miranda and Lucy along with some secondary characters are working at the royal palace in anticipation for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Each of these women have trials and tribulations due to many factors, but they end up supporting and help each other through difficult circumstances. The story’s underlying themes of women working, receiving lower wages, discrimination are all touched upon and they enlighten the story themes along with describing many details about the coronation. I enjoyed this story immensely, the story was well written and researched, and I liked all of the characters who were all strong women in different ways who cared and truly loved each other.