Coronation Year

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

The lives of three people living at the Blue Lion Hotel during Queen Elizabeth II's coronation intertwine.

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.

Jennifer Robson studied French literature, modern history, British economics, and British social history at university. She is a full-time bestselling author and lives in Toronto.

Publisher: William Morrow

Length: 400 pages

Release Date: April 4, 2023

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

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.