Tenderly written and heartwarming, a real winner!
Queuing for the Queen is about two women, mother and daughter; Rani and Tania who decide to pay their respects to the queen so they hop off to London and join the huge queue with the thousands of others. I think this is one of the first books to be written about the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II, so it does pull you back to last year and all the sadness which surrounded the country, but it's also full of warmth and hope and laughter.
It's not just about a bunch of people standing in a very long line - it's so much more than that. It explores the relationship between mother and daughter and with some interesting characters popping up to lighten the load.
I did think it was a little too slow-paced at times, but seeing as it is mainly about people standing in a queue it's not surprising.
It's enjoyable and light-hearted and I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. This was a really interesting, enjoyable, engaging ready. Rana skillfully explores mother/daughter relationships and the challenges of cultures clashing, against the backdrop of the Queue to see the Queen's coffin. She captured the feeling of that time beautifully in its humour and melancholy, and brought a diverse cast of characters together well. Strange to think a momentous event of just eight months ago is already making its way into fiction!

What a lovely book! The setting of this story is brilliant & it shows how people can come together, Tania & Rani, mother & daughter queue to show their respects to the late Queen but their relationship has been difficult & the story highlights the complexity of their family. Tania knows nothing about this as Rani has not shared the hurt & upset she has suffered. . The author touches on grief & how complex it is & how it affects us & the people around us.
I enjoyed the gentle flow of this book & the personalities of the people also queueing to show their respects. A great choice of subject. Recommended read.

Enjoyed this book so much more than I expected. Full of interesting characters spending a day and night queuing to say goodbye to the Queen.
Thought provoking about how diverse the UK has become and the sense of community and kindness that can still be found

This was such an interesting read! It was so engaging and at times frustrating and I wanted to yell like Tania! But Rani's story unfolds so beautifully that by the end, she is every bit as wonderful and thoughtful a character as you could possibly hope for. I loved watching her grow and change and adapt.

Also, I absolutely adored all the side characters they meet along the way. This was a lovely book and I will definitely be looking for more by the author!

A wonderful story about human connections and those temporary relationships we build that can really define a moment in time. The queen's Lying In State was a once in a generation moment, and thousands of people took the opportunity to pay their respects, queuing for 24 hours or more to do so. Sweta's book follows Tania and her mother Rani as they slowly work their way along the queue, through boroughs of London, meeting their queue neighbours along the way and sharing stories of each other's lives. The time together gives Tania and Rani some much-needed time to work through some of their own grievances and disputes as well.
A sweet tender book paying tribute to human relationships and mother/daughter relationships, as well as those moments that bring a nation together.

This was a cute, comical and lesson learning story following a group of people queuing to see the queen lay on state. They all want to pay their respects but the queue is exceptionally long. So starts the stories of why these people have travelled to London and are willing to give up their weekend to queue and say goodbye to the queen.
Tania, living with her boyfriend Jonny, is estranged from her mother after witnessing over a number of times, the snubs her mum gives to Johnny. She's planning her wedding,but is sad about her mum's disapproval.
Rani, Tania's mother, has asked Tania along to this event as she wants to make up with her daughter. She daydreams about her younger life and the challenges that she had in her relationship with her parents.
Harold, a lonely man who wanted to say goodbye to the queen but says so much else more to these strangers.
Denzil and Colin, a married couple who are desperately in love, give everyone a big surprise at one point in the queue.Colin enjoys correcting everyone and bickering with his husband!.
Owen and his mum Elsie have travelled down from Wales as Owen is the queen's number one fan!! He knows lots of historical facts and tells everyone things as they go along.
This circle of people quickly become friends and laugh and joke as they travel alongside the river Temes on their way to Westminster. We learn lots about them and their reasons for being here and staying here till the end.
A great read!!
#Netgalley, #headofzeus, #swetarana

An interesting story about a mother and daughter who have fallen apart over the years who come back together when queuing to see the queen after she had passed away. How they mend the relationship that they have and all the people that they meet in the queue.

I don’t know what I was expecting from this book but what I got was great. The story of mum and daughter trying to work out their relationship after years of not being truthful, weaves into “the queue” and saying goodbye to the queen. I thought Tania was interesting, and I liked the other people they met in the queue too. Overall it was an interesting and enjoyable read

What a heartwarming debut. I really enjoyed this book, I read it in one sitting, fantastic characters and a wonderful storyline, this book will stay with you long after you've finished it.

What an apt book so near to the Coronation!

I’ve always been a royalist so I was looking forward to reading this, I also watched on tv when the late Queen was lying in wait and the millions of people waiting in line to see her and pay respects and I thought this could be a fantastic book! And here we are.

This was everything I could have imagined and more it’s filled with joyful moments and sad moments too.

This book was an easy read and flowed really well with good descriptors and character development.
The book isn't action packed and even though there are 3295 pages nothing really happens but i think that gives a real sense of the event that this book is based on.
People literally queued for hours with not a lot happening other than queuing and making new friends from all walks of life and this book identifies this.

The idea of the story was a lovely one and i admired the people who waited in the queue to say their final goodbyes and pay their respects to our late queen.
I do feel this would make a good TV adaptation and would make an equally enjoyable watch as it was to read.

I received this book via NetGalley and give it my honest opinion.

This was a great read and written from an interesting perspective, the characters were diverse and held my interest. A book that will hold you from the start and keep you wanting to find out more about the characters as the waiting in line continues.
I enjoyed this read. Thank you Sweta Rana for ab eautifully written story that represents not only live of a Queen and how she touched many hearts but that of a diverse community too.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Tania was surprised to hear of the queen,s passing. She was not overly fond of the monarchy. When the queen was to lie in state she had no intention of going. Life has a way of changing. While in line with her mom she meets different characters who affect her in many ways. A good book.

An interesting novel based on a group of individuals who find themselves in the queue to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The story behind this account is the life of an Indian lady, Rani, in the queue with her daughter, Tania, who puts love before her culture by marrying a man of her choosing without her parents consent. It’s a relatable account of cultural discrimination and the impact on her future, at the same time as hiding the truth from her daughter. A group of unlikely strangers, each with their own stories, adds to the context. An enjoyable well written novel with diverse characters. The morale: you can remember the dead without forgetting how to live.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Aria and Aries for this advance copy.

Firstly, a massive thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this advanced copy of Queueing for the Queen by Swéta Rana.

I finished this book within a day, I couldn’t put it down. It’s exactly as the description says, it's a warm and uplifting story about a British Indian mother and her daughter in a queue to see the queen over the span of twenty-four hours. But it's also so much more than that. You go on a journey with the characters and you learn more about their past and learn more about Tania and her mother, Rani, and why they have such struggles within their relationship.

There’s such diversity amongst all of the characters that Tania and Rani meet whilst waiting in the queue. Each of them have such unique personalities, and they come together and find shared interests whilst spending hours together. I laughed and smiled throughout, reading about these groups of characters and how close they became over such a short period of time. Each brings something different to the story.

It was so heartwarming yet also heartbreaking, learning more about Tania and Rani, and finding out why they have such a rocky relationship. Heartwarming in the sense that Rani only acted the way she did out of love and from her own personal experiences and not to be cruel. Heartbreaking as you find out how Rani was treated in such an awful way when she was younger, just so she could be with her love. You read about Tania’s parents, and go back in time to see how their relationship developed and how it had such an impact on their life and how it, later on in life, impacts Tania as well. This story delves into the culture and heritage of both Tania and Rani and how sometimes, you can stray away from that and make choices that not everyone agrees upon. It also shows that hiding things isn't always the best approach and can become more damaging.

Overall, this book isn’t solely about the Queen. It’s about a community of people who all loved and respected her and had their own personal reasons for paying their respects to the Queen. A group that finds solace and friendship, and where secrets are revealed and surprises happen. This book is full of happy and funny moments, but also sad and heart wrenching moments. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it and I will definitely be picking up a physical copy of the book once its released.

This was a lovely book. I was really excited to see a book about 'the queue' as it was such a poignant moment in British history. Great characters and story. Recommended.

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of England passed away at the age of 96. Her life, reign and death meant many different things for many different people around the world, and this was never more evident than in the media circus that followed. What was unexpected, was the thousands of people willing to wait queue for over 24 hours for the chance to pay respects at her coffin.

Rani, a Gujarati Indian woman who emigrated to London as a young child, and her adult daughter Tania, whose father is white, are in this queue together. The people the meet, the stories they hear, and the way the Queen has affected each of their lives is explored delicately in this book that is far more than a nod to the monarchy.

Thank you to Author Swéta Rana, @headofzeus and @netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. It's publishing today and it was an incredibly poignant read after England's King Charles III was crowned just days ago.

I appreciated the characters we met of different ages, cultures and sexual orientation. This wasn't an 'I love the Queen' book; many different angles were explored and I really appreciated this fact. I especially loved the dual perspective of Rani vs Tania and the glimpses we got into Rani's traditional Gujarati upbringing. This was such a positive take on love; between family, friends, community and country. I would happily read it again!

A gentle easy read book. The relationship between a mother and daughter is explored within the backdrop of the queue to see the Queen lying in state. The daughter Tania is more open and emotional about her feelings from the start of the book but the joy of this read is the slow burn that is Rani and how her life experiences have shaped her emotions.
Their time in the queue is engagingly described along with the various characters they meet but the flashbacks to Rani's life really developed an understanding of her and her feelings. I appreciated that these flashbacks were in chronological order and not all over the place like some books I've read recently. The reader is able to see how events affected Rani and made her the person she is now.
I've recommended this book to my daughter as not only will she enjoy the storyline but as she lives in London the references to London landmarks etc will add another dimension.

Oh my, I wasn't expecting this to be quite such an emotional read but it had me sobbing and laughing throughout.
The story tells of Rani and Tania's journey over 24hours queueing to pay respects to the Queen lying in state after her passing. While this mother and daughter pairing are the main focal point, they meet various people from all walks of life along the journey, and we see how their lives, experiences and sweet nature's can impact on the Kapadia-Nichols ladies.
Young Owen was such a sweetheart, and Harold such a gent.
I'd have quite liked an epilogue to know that all these characters got on fine after the part they played in the healing relationship of mother and daughter.
A lovely read, I'd definitely read more by this author.