Someone Special [Hardcover]

Judith Saxton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1995

The saga of three English girls born on the same day in 1926 follows the story of three women whose lives become entwined--and one who is destined to become Queen. From the author of The Blue and Distant Hills.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The sure-handed Saxton (First Love, Last Love) serves up more catnip for Anglophiles in this restrained melodrama, which traces the lives of three English women from their shared birthday in 1926 through the 1930s Depression, WWII and the 1950s postwar boom. Princess Elizabeth, who will become Queen Elizabeth II, is given a royal rearing under the loving tutelage of her nanny; plain, intelligent Anna is born to upper-class Constance, whose privileged society life doesn't compensate for her husband's philandering; and Nell grows up as the daughter of working-class Hester Coburn, who runs away from her post as a servant and becomes a snake charmer at a fair. The most vivid of the three portrayals belongs to Hester and Nell and is enlivened by the carnival setting (where Nell barks for her mother) and by a family conflict involving a powerful landowner. Least successful is the standoffish depiction of the Royals-stiff to the point of solidity. The theme of specialness is belabored, and readers less taken with the sheer Englishness of it all may find the overexplained inner landscapes to be stuffy and ponderous. But Saxton's command of her bustling backdrop renders this an engaging, if uninspired, chronicle of two generations of three social classes.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312131739
• ISBN-13: 978-0312131739
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,386,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Few characters and some plot twists make this one redeemable, July 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Someone Special (Hardcover)

This is an OK book with only one character, Nell, to redeem it. The rest is just not good enough. The whole tie-in with Elizabeth II of England is not inspiring although a message that everyone wants to be special is a nice touch. If the author focused more on Nell and her mother, then the book would have been better. I also felt that the author was too removed from the action. She was writing about them in such reserved manner that it was impossible to "escape" reality with this one. The writing talents of Judith Saxton need to be re-evaluated although her plot development is quite gool.

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read!, August 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Someone Special (Hardcover)

I really liked this book alot. I felt really drawn to Nell and her mothers story the most. Actually I wish the whole book was all about them. I think I'll read it again!