Do Let’s Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by Gareth Russell
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by NymphaeaDuring her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations, and dry-as-a-martini delivery style as she was for being a beloved royal. Now, Do Let’s Have Another Drink recounts 101 (one for each year of her remarkable life) amusing and astonishing vignettes from across her long life, including her coming of age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law and her unexpected ascendance to the throne, and her half century of widowhood as her daughter reigned over the United Kingdom. Featuring new revelations and colorful anecdotes about the woman Cecil Beaton, the high society photographer, once summarized as “a marshmallow made on a welding machine,” Do Let’s Have Another Drink is a delightful celebration of one of the most consistently popular members of the royal family.
A woman made of steel wearing a crown and holding her own.
I didn’t know much about the Queen Mother when I picked up this book. I saw the title and thought it’d be a rollicking good time kind of book. It’s so much more, just like the Queen Mother. Sure, she had her faults, but she went through a lot in a long lifetime.
The writing flows along well and kept me entertained. Honestly, the fascination of the woman was plenty. She lived through two wars, bombings, the death of her husband, his rise to the throne and seeing her daughter do the same. She had a lot to handle and seemed to do it with grace. She might have spent a lot of cash along the way and loved her racehorses, but honestly, she was very much of her time. This book showed me that in so many ways.
If you’re looking for a book about the Queen Mother that’s not a run-of-the-mill biography, give this one a try. It’s worth the read.
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