Five star review on Amazon

“She That Plays the Queen” is a great read, the second novel I have read by this author and quite different from the first, “A Thing Called Joe”. This one no doubt contains some elements from life, as the writer is an actress among other theatrical careers (the title is a twist on a line from “Hamlet”). It is subtitled “In Three Acts”, and its three sections cover phases in the lives – and the relationship – of the two female protagonists. Both come from Hull, and when we meet them (and they each other) are growing up during the Second World War and experiencing bombing raids that were evidently played down then and later, for strategic reasons. Neither is exactly born into privilege, but one of the girls has a really terrible start in life. This changes, up to a point, through her acquaintance with the other girl’s family. But instead of being friends, the two youngsters turn into bitter rivals. Both go into the theatre, with various false starts and changes of tack that ring true to life. Both are successful in different ways, at different times. Eventually they pass through being enemies to a strange sort of friendship – though much that they have in common is ironic rather than bonding! This is a real page-turner of a story that I enjoyed very much, and would adapt marvellously for television.