The Good Servant: From the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author comes a sweeping royal historical fiction romance novel to escape with in summer 2023!

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This is a fictionalized account of a true story. Marion Crawford is a young teacher with ambitious goals to help unprivileged children when fate takes her on a new path and she becomes a governess to two young princesses, Lilibet and Margaret. This was an easy, if far from scintillating read. If the definition of a good servant is loyal, hardworking, trustworthy and discreet then Marion Crawford for the majority of her career fulfilled the brief, only to fall at the last hurdle. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether or not it was her dogged pursuit of her own happy ever after that hastened her demise but I know which side of the fence I’m sitting on! The late Queen Elizabeth II, and her sister Margaret were the last members of the royal family to be educated at home by tutors in the traditional manner. Elizabeth and Margaret were home-schooled by their governess, Marion Crawford. I have enjoyed Fern Britton's books in the past and this was a little different from her other reads but no less brilliant. Windsor Castle. At first this ordinary woman is in a new world, working as governess to two young princesses Elizabeth & Margaret, in a household she calls home but where everyone is at a distance. As the course of history changes, she finds herself companion to the future Queen, and indispensable to the crown. And slowly their needs become her needs. Their lives become hers. It’s then she meets George, and falls in love for the first time. Now Marion faces an impossible choice: her sense of duty or the love of her life.

I was not expecting this ! I’ll be honest I expected a good read but I did not expect to fall in love with this book!! This is a very well-written and researched book. The reader finds himself in the vortex of a totally different life, court life. All the characters are well developed, and the naivete of Marion toward her future husband was actually so annoying, yet, she couldn't see his corruptive nature until it was too late. And with time, she stoically pushed her own desires aside. Like postponing her marriage for over ten years. Even though the other employees warned her that she is just one of the staff in the royal household, she would do anything for the monarchy. And she would do anything for her no-good husband too. Not without the consequences for her life and her relations with the royals.I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. There were so many historical events mentioned which I either remembered hearing or reading about, which of course makes for enhanced comprehension. In my lifetime - The Queen Mother; Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Princess Margaret; Edward VIII Duke of Windsor following his abdication from the throne; Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Marion’s funeral in 1988 was a lonely one. There were no wreaths from the Royal Family. Her royal pension was paid until the day she died”.

She seemed so happy in some aspects of her life but had to give up many dreams of her own, to continue to serve the Royal family. This included her hopes to work with young Scottish children and a lengthy engagement to the man she loved, even though he is depicted as a rather underhand character. (FYI, I really didn't like George and wish she had seen through his awfulness, and heeded the warnings she had been given...) A family saga beginning at the end of the first and continuing through second world war, as it begins in 1918 with Clara Bolitho fighting for her family. Later in 1947 Hannah, Clara’s daughter, is falling in love for her very first time, but with the wake of World War Two underway, she must now protect her baby Caroline. Moving ahead to 2020, Caroline is living quietly on the Cornish coastline, but there’s devastating family secret that threatens to rear its head. Will she be able to get past it, can they all overcome this hurdle, and what will become of the daughters of Cornwall? The Good Servant is an enjoyable and poignant story based on the true story of Marion Crawford, 'Crawfie'. Who was governess to Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in their younger years. Despite being in the historical fiction genre. Fern has interpreted and revitalised actual events based on Marion's own book, The Little Princesses.Loyal up until circumstances take Marion down a different path, her words her twisted, her actions questioned and her loyalty broken. She told of what happened behind palace walls. She broken the trust. But did she? Was she a victim of something else, influence by those around her who were fed up of being in her shadow? Although this book is loosely based around the facts (due to limited information in the public realm) you can see that the author has done a great deal of research and I loved the fact and fiction mix. Please make sure you read the afterwords though as ferns notes on writing the book and the questions she raises to the reader add a whole new dimension to this wonderfully constructed book. Fern Britton anchored her own ITV1 Saturday night series, That's What I Call Television in 2007. In December 2007, she went on a secret trip to Basra to broadcast behind-the-scenes footage of the troops. She appeared as a guest presenter for the show, Have I Got News for You on 27 April 2007 and again on 17 October 2008. On 12 January 2008, she was the winner in the first episode of Thank God You're Here, a television comedy series hosted by Paul Merton. In April 2008, Fern Britton together with her colleague, Phillip Schofield was the presenter of the revived 'all star' version of the super hit ITV show, Mr and Mrs. The show was broadcast on Saturday nights as a six-part series. Marion “Crawfie” Crawford, a governess to the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, for the most part sacrifices her own happiness, nuptials and education, to become a dedicated and loyal servant to the monarchy. This story has its host of characters, including Crawfie’s husband who is a drunkard and liar, the other Royals, staff and other characters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and HarperCollins UK. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Come sapete sono una grande amante del genere, quindi potevo mai farmelo scappare Assolutamente no. I was utterly engrossed by this semi fictional novel as I’ve said before I’ve always been fond of the Royals especially in the 1930s & 1940s so i really wanted to read this and it didn’t disappoint. I devoured all the rich details in Crawfies story including her home in Scotland and all the details about the different palaces she worked in while taking care of the Princesses, all the royal history that I love and her friendship with Bobo & Alah was very endearing as they are all in it together taking care of Elizabeth and Margaret.

Marion’s time with the family lasted until 1949 and she retained favour for some time afterwards until she was taken advantage of by some unscrupulous people who wanted to buy her “inside stories”. Of course today, the Royal Family’s private lives are far more well documented but in the 1950’s it was quite different and as the first servant to cash in on the private lives of the royals, Crawfie was ostracised by the royal family and they never spoke to her again. Whilst it is widely accepted that she had been under the influence of George Buthlay, who she married in 1947, Marion was absolutely devastated when she realised the implications and she never really recovered, living the rest of her life under a cloud away from everyone she had once been so close to. And for the most part it is, until she meets George, older than her, but with the ambitions of becoming Marion’s husband much to the delight of Marion’s mother. Marion is loyal and faithful to the household she serves as well as falling in love with George. She has to choose duty and the path she thinks is best. It is not until much later that she chooses a married life. All that time George waited. But is there something bitter from Marion’s dedication to something other than the man she is supposed to love.

I do love some of the English expressions: “Toot sweet” for immediately. “Tinkety tonk, Old Fruit” for “goodbye, my friend”, although I’m not sure if any friend of mine would be too pleased with being called “old fruit” lol Fern Britton worked with a touring theatre company and in 1979, she started her career with Westward Television in Plymouth. She worked as a newsreader and continuity announcer on Westward Diary, the nightly local bulletin. Later, she switched to present BBC’s Southwest news programme, Spotlight. She became a known as the youngest national news presenter to present News After Noon on BBC1. Fern Britton then moved to work for TVS in Southampton, where she hosted the South edition of the news programme, Coast to Coast, together with Fred Dinenage. She has also presented other programmes, like Coast to Coast People, The Television Show and Magic Moments. I really enjoyed the correspondence throughout the book. It was an interesting way to glean information. Locations and dates headed each chapter, which I found very helpful. I really loved the forward that Fern has written with regards to the Queen and her passing. It really shows Fern's great respect and sadness in and around the event and is a great prelude to the story she goes on to tell.

The characters were well researched, written and developed. And you really get a feel of how Marion lived her life. The situations she found herself in, and the massive part that she played in education, loving and shaping the young princesses throughout childhood and in to adulthood. It's just a shame that she was, in many ways, used and duped by the very people around her who were supposed to love her. This story is well-written, detailed, and fast-paced, and I am sorry I waited this close to it publication date to read it…especially in one sitting as I was so drawn into the story and the characters. Did I mentioned that I love all things Royal? I think I did and I loved, loved this novel. The minor characters added to the story (i.e., Duke and Duchess, Mrs. Simpson etc.) as well. There are various times during my reading that I found myself empathetic for the heroine and all she had to go through…dealing with a despicable husband for so long and the manipulation pressed upon her by him, the Royal family, and the media. Dare say that the events of that time are no different than those of today. This fictionalised account of a real story follows Marion Crawford, a young Scottish woman who finds herself becoming the governess for the tiny Princesses, Lilibet and Margaret, and follows her years with them, until an awful misunderstanding occurs, causing her to be cast out of the Royal fold, after many, many years of devoted service. Some years ago, I read a fabulous book ‘That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor’. I will definitely read it again soon. Marion Crawford had ambitions on becoming a child psychologist and helping those less fortunate than her and certainly her later charges to be educated as she saw as their right. However after a interim job before she starts university with Lord and Lady Elgin, she comes to the attention to the Duke and Duchess of York and suddenly finds herself in London, in Windsor Castle. A far cry where she thought she would end up.