This book chronicles several months during 1953 London with Queen Elizabeth's coronation as the backdrop. The pacing of the book was a bit slow, but picked up a bit with a mystery in the second half. Its strength lies in the description of the main characters, all of whom are dealing with difficult family situations or events that happened to them during World War II, and do so with dignity and hard work. I found this book especially poignant after watching the Queen's funeral just a few short months ago and reflecting on just how remarkable her seventy year long reign was. I really enjoyed her charming short appearance at the end of the book and the happy ending.

Book to be released April 4. 2023.

William Morrow Books

Genre: Cozy Historical Fiction/ Mystery

Starred Review: 4/5 Stars

Summary (from Amazon):

The USA Today bestselling author of The Gown returns with another enthralling and royal-adjacent historical novel—as the lives of three very different residents of London’s historic Blue Lion hotel converge in a potentially explosive climax on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation.

It is Coronation Year, 1953, and a new queen is about to be crowned. The people of London are in a mood to celebrate, none more so than the residents of the Blue Lion hotel.

Edie Howard, owner and operator of the floundering Blue Lion, has found the miracle she needs: on Coronation Day, Queen Elizabeth in her gold coach will pass by the hotel’s front door, allowing Edie to charge a fortune for rooms and, barring disaster, save her beloved home from financial ruin. Edie’s luck might just be turning, all thanks to a young queen about her own age.

Stella Donati, a young Italian photographer and Holocaust survivor, has come to live at the Blue Lion while she takes up a coveted position at Picture Weekly magazine. London in celebration mode feels like a different world to her. As she learns the ins and outs of her new profession, Stella discovers a purpose and direction that honor her past and bring hope for her future.

James Geddes, a war hero and gifted artist, has struggled to make his mark in a world that disdains his Indian ancestry. At the Blue Lion, though, he is made to feel welcome and worthy. Yet even as his friendship with Edie deepens, he begins to suspect that something is badly amiss at his new home.

When anonymous threats focused on Coronation Day, the Blue Lion, and even the queen herself disrupt their mood of happy optimism, Edie and her friends must race to uncover the truth, save their home, and expose those who seek to erase the joy and promise of Coronation Year.

Review: This lovely cozy historical fiction mystery novel is so compelling because of the ensemble of beautiful characters created by Jennifer Robson. Set in post-war London, the diverse and quirky cast of characters come together at the Blue Lion hotel, a historic hotel run by Edie Howard. Edie is a beautifully kind and friendly proprietress of the hotel. Each character has a story, and they come together within the familiar confines of the Blue Lion. Told from a different character’s perspective in each chapter, we learn about each one’s war story and how arrived in time for the queen’s coronation. There is some underlying intrigue as a mystery villain seeks to destroy Edie’s hard work and is trying to ruin the prospects of the Blue Lion. If you enjoy cozy stories where friendships blossom in unexpected ways with some light mystery mixed in, this novel is for you. This reminded me of the Constance Kopp cozy historical fiction mystery series or Maisie Dobbs series. Fans of the film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, will be charmed by this story as well.

So much love for this book! I already pre ordered for our fiction collection but now that I've had a chance to read it ....need to order additional copies because it is sure to be popular! Loved the hotel setting and the enjoyable cast of characters. Thank you netgalley for the advance ecopy

Jennifer Robson’s The Gown was told from the point of view of those constructing the future Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding dress. Her latest slice of historical fiction focuses on in three wholly different people living life in London during the year of the Queen’s coronation, with the story climaxing on the very day Elizabeth takes the throne. The book retains Robson’s spirit and sense of historical research, and it provides a fascinating look at life in Britain at the time.

At the Blue Lion Hotel – which has passed from Howard to Howard over the span of four hundred years – times are getting dire. Edie, the latest Howard in charge of the Lion, discovers that the hotel will be on the route through which the young monarch will pass after her coronation, and realises this could be just the thing to repair the place’s fading fortunes. The procession which will draw crowds and will likely draw people to the Lion, where she hopes to make up her financial deficit by charging premium rates for her rooms. With any luck, as the hotel begins to reach full occupancy for the first time in years, Edie will end up making enough money to avoid having to sell the property to a rich developer.

Stella Donati survived the Holocaust and the camps but lost her parents, and now must forge ahead alone as she takes up photography after watching her parents write travel guides. Penpals with Edie, Stella moves into the Blue Lion and takes on a job with Picture Weekly magazine. Her goal is to grab a lucrative picture of the Queen in her carriage as she passes by, which could make Stella’s name as a photographer.

Jamie Geddes is an artist who has been hired to draw an official portrait of Elizabeth and the coronation in general. He hies into the Blue Lion to begin making sketches and preliminary paintings.

The three friends become closer, step by step, as winter passes into spring and summer. But danger sets in when threatening letters begin showing up at Picture Weekly postmarked from the Blue Lion. Who is trying to sabotage Edie’s success? Is something more dangerous afoot?

Coronation Year does an excellent job of bringing to life those who sit on the fringes of a huge event. Edie, Jamie and Stella are all beautifully memorable in their own ways, and honest about what they want out of life. They’re fun to follow as they struggle, win, and fall in love. The mystery, too, is surprising and decently involving.

The grander picture here is lovely too, as Robson portrays a postwar England just beginning to get on with the business of recovery. We know that prosperity won’t really set back in again until the 1960s, when Carnaby Street becomes the place to be and the Beatles the cultural epicenter of a generation. In this between time there is joy, struggle, anger, and bitter memory.

It's a book perfumed with memories of Queen Elizabeth II without being bogged down in the weight of her legacy, and is fascinating to read in the wake of her death. Though it’s about what happens to a nation during a large cultural shift, Coronation Year will have you enraptured and curious to the last page.

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The author excels at taking a Big Event and weaving in the lives of ordinary people. While the resolution of the mystery wasn't a surprise, it was still satisfying, as were the romantic elements. With the recent death of the Queen, this book should generate a lot of interest; especially as publication will be near the coronation of King Charles. Readers of The Gown will be delighted to see some familiar characters.

Content warnings: racism, Holocaust, loss of parents, attempted murder

Edie Howard runs the Blue Lion Hotel in London, like generations of Howards before her dating back 400 years. The hotel is not in the best condition, and Edie's struggling to keep it afloat when she discovers that Queen Elizabeth II's coronation will pass the hotel's front door. As reservations come in for the coronation, Edie begins to hope that she can turn the business around and refuse the offer of a rich man who wants to buy the property.

Jamie Geddes is an artist hired to paint a picture of the coronation for a London guild across the street from the Blue Lion. He takes up residency in the hotel to study the building and work on sketches for his commission.

Stella Donati is an Italian-Jewish Holocaust survivor who takes up photography after losing her travel guide author parents during World War II. She lands a job at London publication Picture Weekly and moves into the Blue Lion at pen pal Edie's suggestion.

The three main characters' lives combine in complicated ways once they're all living under one roof. There is an element of mystery as threats begin to arrive at local newspapers written on stationery from the Blue Lion. Can the mystery be solved before the hotel goes under or someone gets hurt?

Although the novel is set during the year of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation year, the royal herself is not a central focus of the novel. Fans of books about the Windsors may not find what they are looking for in this novel. Recommended for fans of historical fiction and historical mysteries.

Representation: Jewish main character, Holocaust survivor, biracial main characters (Scottish-Indian) (Italian-Jewish), interracial romance, female business owner in the 1950s

4.25 stars

You can always count on Jennifer Robson to write interesting stories that transport you into the time period of her novels. The setting for this novel is 1953, just before Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation.

The story’s chapters countdown from January 1953 to Coronation Day in June which was a good frame for the unfolding of the story. The plot is told from three points of view - Edie, the owner of a small hotel on the Queen’s procession route, Jamie, an artist commissioned to paint the Queen’s procession, and Stella, a photographer hired to take photographs of the procession. This is a story of how the Coronation impacts the lives of these characters and how their lives come to be entwined.

The setting is largely the wonderful but struggling Blue Lion family-run hotel which the author describes so well that I could imagine being there. There is a mystery and romance and the description of the Queen’s Coronation procession is very well done. The timeframe is well-described, including the subtle and overt racism that Jamie experiences as the British-born son of an English man and an Indian woman.

The first half of the book is more character-driven and so a bit slower-paced than this author’s other (WWII) novels but it is so compelling. I enjoyed this read right up to its satisfying ending, including the characters’ interactions with The Queen!

I absolutely loved this book!! Jennifer Robson has a gift for immersive writing, with vivid descriptions and three dimensional characters with real depth. I felt like I'd just been on vacation in London...in 1953. "Coronation Year" follows the lives of three people living at the Blue Lion Inn, a small hotel under the stewardship of Edwina (Edie) Howard, the last of the Howard family that have owned and run the Blue Lion for the last 400 years. Edie's struggling to make ends meet with fewer visitors and higher costs for everything. She's hoping that the Coronation will save the hotel, as the royal procession to Westminster Abbey will pass by on their doorstep. Stella is a photographer with her first newspaper job, fresh to London from Italy. With a family connection to the Blue Lion, she settles in to try and make a go of her new job, and her new home. Artist Alexander Geddes is an artist commissioned to paint the coronation procession for local patron, and the Blue Lion is an ideal location to work on his painting. All three of these lives intersect at this one moment in time-with life-changing implications for each of them. Secrets will out, and new bonds of family and friendship will begin along with the young Queen's reign.

A unique, immersive dive into 1953 London with memorable characters.

I loved "The Gown," Robson's behind the scenes look at the women who embroidered Elizabeth II's wedding gown in 1947 - and this is lovely follow-up. Robson's deep knowledge of WWII and post WWII-England is perfectly used here to tell royal-adjacent stories. It's such a refreshing take on historical fiction to see people living ordinary lives in extraordinary times.

Full review to follow. Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

London, England - 1953

As Britain slowly recovers from the war years, there is new hope on the horizon as it crowns its new Queen.

Edwina (Edie) Howard is the de facto owner of the centuries old Blue Lion hotel. Established by a Howard relative four hundred years ago, Edie inherited it upon the death of her parents at the beginning of the war. The hotel is both her business as well as the only home she has known, and she is struggling to keep it afloat financially. Everything needs updating, including the cranky boiler in the basement that provides hot water for the inhabitants. As for those inhabitants, besides the transient ones, there are three elderly people who pay a pittance to live in the hotel. Edie's cherished employees, besides Cook and two house maids, there is Mick the doorman, Mr. Swan, the night manager, and the newest employee, Mr. Brooks who is the clerk who is at the desk during the day. Edie feels responsible for all of them.

To Edie's shock and delight, the very street that the Blue Lion is on has been designated part of the route that the Queen's procession will make from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. This will enable Edie to increase her prices as she makes reservations for guests to observe the historic event. This new queen may just be the answer to Edie's problems.

Edie's friend, Stella Donati, a survivor of the Holocaust and an Italian photographer, has just accepted a position with Picture Weekly, a London-based magazine. She is thrilled to be able to move into the Blue Lion after her move from Italy. It's the beginning of a new life for her, and a way to try and forget the horrors of the past.

James (Jamie) Geddes, a talented artist, and war hero, has moved from Edinburgh to London at the behest of a company that wants him to paint a depiction of the coronation procession as it passes in front of their office building. As luck would have it, there is a small hotel directly across the street - the Blue Lion. Jamie settles into his room, pleased with its view of the office building, as well as the hotel's lovely owner. He senses, however, that all is not right with the business, as Edie seems stressed.

As Edie prepares for the upcoming exciting occasion, discouraging, and anonymous events begin to occur. Edie is confused, and hurt, worried that the future of the hotel is now in real jeopardy. She confides some of these worries to Jamie and Stella. What can they do to prevent further troubles?

CORONATION YEAR is a lovely glimpse into London of the early fifties, and how the future with their new queen will bolster the recovery from the war years. It's also a view into the private lives of the people living in the aged hotel, from Edie to the maids. The mystery of just who wants the hotel to fail hounds Edie as she determinedly moves forward with her plans for her guests on Coronation Day.

Jennifer Robson returns with another historically-adjacent mystery. Coronation Year, 1953, is a promising time for many, including the Queen herself. However, at the heart of this novel is a mystery involving those who are attempting to ruin Coronation Day for everyone involved. If historical fiction and suspense/mystery are your two favorite genres, this is the perfect book for you. You will not be disappointed.