Sunday 9 February 2014

Review: A Very Civil Wedding

A Very Civil Wedding by V.T. Davy
 
Title: A Very Civil Wedding
Series: None
Author: V.T. Davy
 
Published: Liberation Publishing; 2013
268 pages, kindle edition
 
Source: An eighty-paged ARC preview of A Very Civil Wedding was provided by V.T. Davy and Liberation Publishing in exchange for an honest review. (A complete paperback copy provided at a later date.)
 
 Description (from Goodreads):

 When Princess Alexandra, the eldest daughter of the Prince of Wales, wishes to marry her long-time partner, Lieutenant-Commander Grace Stephens, their wedding has the potential to cause a constitutional crisis. When the couple go further and request a blessing by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the British establishment must find a way to accommodate the wishes of the woman who will one day be the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

In this thoughtful and thought-provoking novel, V. T. Davy examines the relationship between the monarchy and the church; the arguments for and against same-sex marriage; how some of Britain’s oldest and most revered organisations have acted to give equality to homosexual men and women, and become stronger for it; and, what happens to institutions when they refuse to embrace the demands of an enlightened society. The novel’s surprising conclusion is that those most damaged by institutionalised prejudice are often the people you would least expect.

It is a book that will test the opinion of every reader wherever they stand on these issues.



My Thoughts:

 Charming, charismatic and thought-provoking A Very Civil Wedding was so much more than I thought.

It presents an interesting premise: what if one of the Royal family of England was gay? Would "their" children be legal heirs to the throne? How would it effect the citizenry? The crown's relationship with the Church of England?

Could it ever be possible?

This book will sure start you thinking. I loved it because of that very fact. I spent nights pondering and pondering because isn't it truly a realistic circumstance?



This book takes place in late 2014, after Princess Alexandra becomes engaged to Lieutenant-Commander Grace Stephens. The problem? They want their civil wedding to be blessed by the church.

Cue the controversy, because it isn't that simple.

What I loved about this book was the fact that I felt everything about it. I could feel the characters, I could feel the stress, the very fraught situation in the air. The electricity of it was amazing!

I love how
V.T. Davy was able to show, relay and ponder every angle of the situation from every point of view. We are shown the inside thoughts of every person involved in the process of making it possible.

You will have to read this book to discover its outcome, but I will say that I utterly love this book. The characters were real. Very real. The problem was real too. Mainly, I love this book because it made me think, deeply and whole-heartedly about what it means to love someone. Really love someone.

And I am excited to get my hands on a full copy of this book!

No comments:

Post a Comment