The Uncommon Reader

The novella opens on the Queen of England asking the president of France whether he’s acquainted with “the writer Jean Genet” (3). Taken off guard, the president feels unprepared to converse about a writer whom he hasn’t read. After this initial scene, the story moves back in time to the cause of the awkward interaction, which stems from the Queen beginning to read.

As the Queen’s dogs run “alongside of the house” (4), the Queen unexpectedly finds the “City of Westminster travelling library, a large removal-like van parked next to the bins outside one of the kitchen doors” (4-5). There are two men inside the library. As the Queen begins speaking to the driver, who is also the librarian, she relies on her sense of decorum. Although “she’d never taken much interest in reading” (6), she realizes that she will have to check out a book to be polite. The Queen asks the librarian, Mr. Hutchings, about how to borrow a book. Then the Queen asks the other young man, Mr. Norman Seakins, to choose a book for her.

That night, the Queen explains to her husband, the Duke, that there is “a travelling library” (9), and he expresses surprise.