What if the British negotiated with the Germans in 1940 and created the Anglo-Saxon Alliance? C.J. Carey’s follow-up to Widowland takes you to England in 1955 that is almost unrecognizable. Women have been divided into six classes, from the racially pure who are destined for marriage and child bearing to the widows who are childless and confined to designated camps. Women are forbidden to smoke or drink in public places and their education is limited. In Windsor Castle, the widowed Queen Wallis is a mere figurehead, confined and closely monitored.

Rose Ransom works for the Ministry of Culture editing poetry and literature so that it conforms to current cultural standards. The Leader was assassinated two years ago on a visit to England and Rose was involved. She lives in fear that her actions will be discovered and she has been careful. Now she has been chosen to interview Queen Wallis and report on her mental stability. A visit by President Eisenhower has been announced and he would like to meet with her. She is making plans of her own for this meeting and enlists Rose’s help. The murder of a German officer has brought enhanced security and places Rose in the sites of Detective Schumacher, who was involved with the investigation of the Leader’s death. Carey’s alternate history is a chilling look at what might have been as well as a murder mystery that ties to the royal family and comes highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book for my review.

Queen Wallis by C. J. Carey is a refreshing surprise! Set in London in 1955 the story is the sequel to Widowland which I have yet to read. Very few dystopian novels appeal to me but this is compelling, beguiling and utterly engrossing and would be a shame to miss.

The alternative world is beautifully written, imaginative and a multisensory experience. The story is full of zippy intelligence and intrigue and the characters are convincing. It was easy to visualize a world in which Wallis Simpson was Queen, people spied on each other, books were banned and a caste system was in place. Women were breeding machines and otherwise useless. Main character Rose Ransom worked in the Culture Ministry and unlike most other brainwashed people made a point of remembering life before. But the cost was high.

If you seek originality and disturbingly believable dystopia set in the fascinating 1950s, this has your name on it.

My sincere thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this fabulous novel.

Queen Wallis by C. J. Carey is an incredibly compelling and beautifully crafted story showcasing the profound power of words.

Set in an alternate 1955, this was another interesting, completely compelling installment of the feminist dystopian/speculative historical Widowland series in which the Nazis won WWII and formed a stifling alliance with Britain where women are policed closely and proscribed caste-like roles based on genetics.

Fast-paced and full of frightfully possible restrictions (including censorship, surveillance, espionage and morality restrictions). This is perfect for fans of 1984 and Kate Atkinson's Life after life. Good on audio too narrated by Antonia Beamish. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

“All of you will be reinforcing the feminine virtues the Alliance cherishes: subservience, obedience, submission to male authority, purity.”

Queen Wallace is the second (and this time really the final) novel about Rose Ransom, British subject living in the Anglo-Saxon Alliance, a waking nightmare of a German-occupied Britain after Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler goes through.

This book is dark and dystopian. Everyone is informing on others, the authorities have a ridiculous amount of info on each and every citizen, and no one tells jokes for fear of disappearing or being “bleached” by Nazi psychologists, brainwashed into forgetting the past.

“Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number— Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are few.”

After an assassination referred to as “The Event,” and the death of King Edward, the final vestige of the royal family is Queen Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor in our world. Wallis is American and in the world of this novel, she has no f**ks left to give. Our heroine Rose, focused on “sanitizing” poetry, is given an assignment to infiltrate poetry readings and then report all the people attending and use her knowledge of the topic to help the Nazis understand what the poetry means. Then, she’s asked to assess Queen Wallis because President Eisenhower and his wife are taking a trip to England and want to see their country(wo)man.

Like the first book, it took some time for me to get back into this world again, and I even checked out the first novel from the library, convinced I should know Douglas, Rose’s boyfriend in this book. That’s not to say that the book is unintelligible if you haven’t read the first novel very recently, but I wouldn’t say this is a standalone either.

The final fifty pages of the book were terrific and full of action. I wished for a second book after finishing the first, and got my wish. So I am now wishing for a third book in the hopes the universe will manifest it.

A stunning alternative to history with a gripping plot. Highly entertaining.
Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow. Alternate histories sometimes work and sometimes feel forced- this is one of the former. I missed the first book so went into this cold, which was fine, It's 1955 and Rose is working to purify poetry to make it conform to the ideological mores of the regime now headed by Queen Wallis. And then she's sent to see Wallis in advance of the visit of the US President. This is feminist dystopia at its best. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read.

Terrific dystopian tale of a Nazi-occupied Britain. Think a combo of 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale with a murder mystery thrown in. The setting is convincing and the book is a page turner

I’m constantly scouring for fiction and nonfiction books about the royal family, yet somehow, I missed Widowland, a dystopian novel of alternative history where Germany took over most of Europe and Great Britain instead of WWII. When I saw this sequel being advertised, I quickly requested it from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark and was approved for an eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

It’s the mid-1950s, and the Nazis have taken over most of Europe and Great Britain. Edward VIII passed away about six months ago, and it’s been two years since The Leader was poisoned and killed. Queen Consort Wallis hasn’t been seen in public too much, and there are concerns about her mental well-being. Women in this society are subjugated and put into different castes; the most desirable caste is one made of Nordic beauties who are also breeders. All other women are seen as useless.

Part 1984, part The Handmaid’s Tale, Queen Wallis goes down the road of What Ifs and it’s truly frightening to think of what could have happened had Churchill not been Prime Minister. In Queen Wallis, Rose Ransom, hero of Widowland, is tasked with rewriting poetry because all poetry is deemed subversive because it can contain hidden meanings. This is seen as a very important position, and because Rose is highly regarded, she’s also been asked to interview Queen Wallis to determine her sanity. President Eisenhower and his wife are on their way to England to visit, and the Protectorate is concerned Wallis may say or do something to jeopardize diplomatic relations with the United States.

Make no mistake, this book is called Queen Wallis but the focus of the book is Rose. Wallis and Rose do meet and have a long discussion about 35% into the book, but Edward VIII’s wife is a supporting character in the book. I generally do not read speculative fiction, but given the subject matter, I found this book a compelling follow-up to Widowland. If you’re a fan of dystopian fiction and have an interest in world history, this series might be for you.

An exciting conclusion to the series. Lots of beautiful descriptions of outfits and interior decorating that I don't understand. Well crafted world-building and return of many of my fave characters. As before, some parts of the story seem to drag and overall, the plot of this one is pretty thin. You should have your classic poetry book on hand for reference!

My thanks to Net Galley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Highbridge, a division of Recorded Books for an advanced copy of this e-book and audiobook.

Queen Wallis is a sequel to Widowland, both dystopian novels that imagine what England would be like had Hitler and the Nazis won the war. Life where you can't trust anyone, where women are put into groups according to their age and child-bearing abilities. where women are told what they are to wear. A cross between The Man in the High Castle, The Handmaid's Tale and maybe a bit of Stepford Wives.

I think I liked this book a little more than Widowland, which I really liked. Rose is the main character with a a job "cleansing" poetry and literature, which means erasing anything the Nazis don't want people to read, that does't agree with their agenda. She has also been through a "bleaching" process to erase all memories from before the war. She is a good little government worker until she happens upon an underground group who reads poetry, dares to laugh and joke, and speak honestly about life as they are currently living (if you can call this living). She begins to remember things, ponder what she hears in Widowland, and question her work.

So much of this book left me wondering how this compares to things we see in today's governments and how we allow government to have so much control over our lives. Many parts of this story left me wanting to discuss it with a fellow reader. It would be great for a buddy read or a book club.

The audio was well done with different characters voicing the different characters in the book.

I loved the first book in this exciting and atmospheric alt-history series, which I believe will be at least a trilogy. Surprisingly, this book gave me a version of Wallis Simpson (I have never been a Wallis fan) that I actually liked. Eagerly awaiting the next volume.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for my review.

Hitler was sure that England would be an easy conquest. He planned to install Edward back on the throne, with Wallis as his queen; after all, they were friendly towards Hitler and actively pressed England to come to friendly terms with Nazi Germany.

It didn’t work out that way; England stood its ground and King George basically exiled his brother to a governmental post in the Caribbean.

But…what if England had gone the way of France, and allied with Hitler?

C. J. Carey’s Widowland fascinated me with its imagined alternative history, and the sequel Queen Wallis continues the story.

Under the Anglo-Saxon Alliance, Britain is colonized by Germany under a totalitarian rule. Along with the end of freedom of speech and reeducating minds, a caste system has been imposed on women, based on eugenics ideals.

Rose is a Geli–the highest caste, based on her physical perfection and class. Although women are no longer educated, especially in the liberal arts, Rose grew up with literature and art. She is the perfect person to rewrite literature to meet government standards. Her job is to transform Jane Eyre into an obedient and meek woman and remove poetic messages that empower free thinking into state approved propaganda.

Rose has forgotten what happened two years previous when The Leader was assassinated. The Event has been erased from history and memories. She is fuzzy about her role in what had happened.

It is 1955 and President Eisenhower and his wife are coming to London to meet the widowed Queen Wallis and tour Hitler’s new rebuilding of London into Londinium, including the ghetto known as the Widowlands, a grim place where barren and unmarried women are forced to live. Rose is asked to prepare the Queen, only to learn that the outspoken Wallis longs to escape her life—and has evidence that could turn American policy against reestablishing a relationship with England.

This feminist dystopian thriller kept me turning pages. I was fascinated by the detailed world Carey creates, down to laws about approved women’s fashions and allotted calories. When I consider state laws that are being enacted in America, it is chilling to consider a world where women are regulated to ignorance, powerlessness, and endless childbirth.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

“Queen Wallis” is the sequel to “Widowland” by CJ Carey. This book picks up two years after The Event that ended the previous book. While the writing style is the same, there are a number of references to the first book and I felt myself trying to remember what happened previously. I do like the revised London and Europe scenes. But the first book felt like a stand-alone and this one makes it clear that there is unfinished business. I preferred the main character, Rose, in the first book, but after a while it becomes clear why Rose isn’t the same Rose as the first book. I did find some of this book a bit unbelievable, but the book did hold my attention and interest.

I received this advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a free review.

I was greatly looking forward to reading this novel and it did not disappoint! I fell madly in love with the first novel in the series last year, and read it in a matter of 2 days. I was super excited to read the next installment in Rose Ransom's adventures in an alternate version of post-WWII London.

I will admit this sequel wasn't as fast-paced as the first novel "Widowland", but it had a lot more work to do in order to pick up the storyline and carry it forward in a believable fashion. I genuinely enjoyed "Queen Wallis" a great deal, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who read the first novel in this series.

I particularly enjoyed how several of minor characters from the first novel made surprise appearances in this sequel. Specifically the police detective, and Kate, one of the Widows from the first novel. While that may not be a surprise for an average sequel, in this particular world it was difficult to imagine how various co-conspirators or individuals who looked the other way in the first novel, were still around given the harshness of penalties and interrogations in the Anglo-Saxon Alliance. I also really enjoyed the way the plot cinched together all the various open-ended storylines at the very end. As the story picked up, I couldn't put the book down. I raced through the last 40% of the novel in less than 12 hours.

Excellent sequel! Well worth reading!

I enjoyed Widowland and was eager to read Queen Wallis. Germany has won WWII and England is a part of the Anglo-Saxon Alliance. Women are part of a caste system decided by their value to the empire. Widows are living in a Widowland because there value is very low. There is a resistance trying to change things and there are spies everywhere who would turn in their neighbors or friends. King Edward VIII is dead and his widow Queen Wallis is the last royal.

This book will make you think. Could this alternate history have come true? Could this happen today? What would we do if this happened to us? So many questions will arise when reading this book. It is one look at what might have been? If you like alternate histories, this is a book for you.

Thank you to #netgalley, #CJCarey, and #SourcebooksLandmark for a copy of this book.
#QueenWallis

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I was thrilled to be able to read this sequel to Widowland. I don't usually read speculative historical fiction (is that what it's called?) but this series really intrigued me. The main character Rose, having caused and survived a terrible event in Widowland, is now constantly looking over her shoulder at every move, and I couldn't put this down to see what, if anything, finally catches up with her.

This book takes place in the 1950s and imagines what England might have looked like had the Nazis won WW2. Women are forced into a caste system based on looks and breeding potential. Wallis Simpson is on the throne, but the Nazis are in control. There is no art, no literature, no free thinking. It's a chilling story. Rose, an elite "Geli" woman (beautiful and fertile) struggles with her job of rewriting poetry to reflect the new values of England. She is pulled between living in the status quo and wondering if there is something better out there for her, which would put her life at risk.

I found it difficult sometimes to remember all of the Nazi character names, and there wasn't a ton of action - just a lot of suspense. I do hope the author writes a third novel. 3.5 stars

C.J. Carrey has provided another engaging read in this series. There are more elements of Fahrenheit 451 in this book (i.e., people memorizing books) and the story builds well to the ending (which is not a surprise if you've been paying attention). I suppose the only "complaint" is that this is the middle book in a trilogy and, like all middle books, it has its own story to tell and the main story arc can take a back seat for a while. That said, I loved the development of the book's namesake. All good alternative histories make you ask the "what if" question and, in this tale, someone who is villainized by many becomes a multifaceted character who intrigues the reader throughout.

Of course, I can't wait to see how the series ends.

A magnificent look at England if the Nazis had won and Wallis Simpson had become Queen Consort of England. Though Wallis isn’t a character in the novel, something I find strange considering the book is named Queen Wallis, it is chilling to think this world could have been hers if her husband had stayed king and married her despite objections.

I had enjoyed the previous book in this series Widowland, and was excited to read this sequel. It was such a strong sequel and had everything that I was looking for in this type of book. C. J. Carey has a great writing style and it was what I expected from the author. I enjoyed the characters and that they felt like the same characters from Widowland.

“He’s very charismatic.” “Isn’t he? Nicholas says poetry is the place where people have always found meaning. More than in politics or religion. Because it expresses our deepest hopes and fears.” “Do you think he’s right?” "Oh. Of course.” The girl was so open and innocent. As if she was unaware that her words could sign her own arrest warrant."