Coronation - Paul Gallico (First edition)

Coronation Day, 2 June 1953! Do you remember it, the thrill of expectation and excitement that went through Britain and the Commonwealth? And the momentous day itself of biting winds and driving rain, followed by sunshine, the brass bands, the cannon-salutes, the seething crowds, the solemn pledges emanating from the Abbey, and the glitter of the golden coach? Do you remember where you were and what you did and what you thought on that historical and enthralling day?

Paul Gallico has recorded the pageantry and the emotion of that event and combined it with a tenderest love story he has ever written, a story of the love of millions of Englishmen for their young Queen.

The romance of this chivalrous and almost medieval love that swept the country that year is told through the medium of a simple North Country family which felt the call to the foot of the throne and made the sacrifices that enabled them to journey to London to see their Queen on Coronation Day.

Ever since the publication of The Snow Goose in the early years of the war, Paul Gallico has shown again and again his affection for and understanding of British traditions and national character, but never before has he penetrated so deeply and touchingly as in his delineation of the Claggs from near Sheffield: Will, the steelworker, and his wife, Violet, their two children, Johnny and Gwenny, and grumbling granny.

Each of these five people brought a yearning to London and each of them during the long hours of Coronation Day underwent a change almost as significant as the symbolic mutation that followed the placing of the crown upon the head of the Queen. Each learned how to relinquish his or her own ends and desires. Yet one and all returned home laden with gifts and riches far beyond their expectations, which would remain with them for the rest of their lives.