Two Weeks with the Queen

An exceptional book matching humour and sorrow in a perfect but daring balance, Two Weeks with the Queen boldly speaks of cancer (and did so long before the recent spate of excellent first person accounts, and in a child) and even more boldly of AIDS. It also takes a look at a gay partnership balancing a child's easy acceptance against the prejudice of many adults. And all this without for a moment sounding like a catalogue of problem-solving advice. Sent to England so as to be spared too much suffering when his brother is diagnosed with cancer, Colin has a simplistic view of how he will get the help that is needed. His crazy exploits first to reach the Queen and then the very best British cancer doctor to make his brother better are quite enough to hold attention absolutely. The contrast between Colin's directness and most adults' obfuscating terror of cancer is refreshing. Morris Gleitzman's measured reading of Two Weeks with the Queen is so well controlled that the full grief of the story hits only at the very end. He never over milks the tragedy but lets it sink in slowly. The upbeat music, presumably designed to stop this being a real sob story, can be a little grating.