The autobiography of the Queen - Emma Tennant

In this true-to-life account of the Queen's disappearance, we learn of the monarch's journey (Upper Class Virgin Atlantic) to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, where she has bought a house off-plan. Here, after more than half a century on the throne, she will recall the years of her reign in peace and tranquillity. But the house is no more than a hole in the ground. No-one knows that 'Mrs Gloria Smith' is the Queen of England, and is not in the habit of introducing herself to strangers. The story of the sovereign's stay between the Pitons on St. Lucia is a funny and touching account of the friendship, sometimes contentious and on occasion baffling, between Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and a young St. Lucian, Austin Ford. How the Queen reacts to her new life - and how she changes as a result, make "The Autobiography of the Queen" a hilarious and moving tale, in which her need for her subjects is as marked as their dependence on her staying on the throne.

Emma Tennant is the author of over 20 books, including the 'sequels' Tess (HarperCollins), Pemberley (Maia Press) and Emma in Love (Fourth Estate). Other titles include Ted and Sylvia (Mainstream Publishing), Girlitude (Vintage) and, most recently, Confessions of a Sugar Mummy (Gibson Square Books).

'My kind of reading' - Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne'All one wants for Christmas' - Observer'The Autobiography of The Queen is a humorous imagining by Emma Tennant, in which Her Majesty disappears to St Lucia' - The Bookseller'"Gloria Smith" decides she needs a break, so heads to St Lucia for some peace. But what no one on the island knows is that she is, in fact, the Queen of England...Regal reading' - The Star'An amusing and affectionate fictional portrait of a woman who has been a constant, comforting factor for the British people in an increasingly uncertain world' - Glasgow Herald