"The Uncommon Reader" is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely ( JR Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett and the classics) and intelligently. Her reading naturally changes her world view and her relationship with people like the oleaginous prime minister and his repellent advisers. She comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with much that she has to do. In short, her reading is subversive. The consequence is, of course, surprising, mildly shocking and very funny.
Accolades
Shortlisted for Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize 2008.
Author Biography
Alan Bennett is one of the most celebrated writers in Britain today. His play (and film) The History Boys won seven Emmys in New York and was the most successful play in the history of the National Theatre. Untold Stories has sold over 700,000 copies in hardback and paperback. Alan Bennett was Author of the Year at the 2006 British Book Awards.
