quotes from The Autobiography of the Queen,
a novel by Emma Tennant, Arcadia Books Ltd. 2007
"All at once, as concierge and Jolene conveyed to each other with their mutual looks of astonishment and pleasure, the old lady became someone whose approval and happy attentions were highly desirable and impossible to forget once experienced." p. 59
"The Queen was an expert listener. ... there was always a moment when the teller, over-emotional at being granted a royal audience, mentioned the one grudge -- or crime -- or stain of illegitimacy, which continued to haunt them and would do so for the rest of their days. ... she had perfected the art of listening to a stage where not coming out with some kind of confession seemed to the teller to be a crime in itself." p. 119
""For over half a century, she had reigned as a model sovereign: dutiful, always ready to hear the complaints or demands of her people and to put these before her own wishes and interests." p. 4
"As she had so often been taught when young, thinking of yourself leads to muddle and to vanity." p. 132
"It seemed that no one could live without the secret hope of an opposite to what they had been dealt in life." p. 210
"A monarch cannot indulge in regrets: too many resonances of heads cut off and kings and queens exiled overseas all their lives for a lack a decisive reigning presented themselves." p. 211
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