New York Times bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith will visit Books & Books on Friday, January 21 at 7pm for a discussion and signing of her latest book, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch. This magisterial new biography brings to life one of the world’s most fascinating and enigmatic women: Queen Elizabeth II.

This free event is part of the International Visiting Author Series and is generously sponsored by Camana Bay and Sunshine Suites Resort.

In Elizabeth the Queen, we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes “heiress presumptive” when her uncle abdicates the throne. We meet the thirteen-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats. We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during World War II and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on V-E Day.

We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children. Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines—the “red boxes” of documents she reviews each day, the weekly meetings she has had with twelve prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad, and the constant scrutiny of the press.