Two Weeks with the Queen

Two Weeks with the queen

Two Weeks With The Queen? (ISBN 0-399-22249-9) is a 1990 novel by an Australian author, Morris Gleitzman, about a 12-year-old Australian boy, Colin Mudford.

About the story

Two Weeks with the Queen begins in outback Australia, where we meet the main character, Colin Mudford, and his family, his younger brother Luke is seriously ill with cancer and the whole family moves to the city in order to seek medical attention for him. Mr and Mrs Mudford decide to send Colin to England to stay with relatives. Colin sees this as an opportunity to seek out the 'The Best Doctor in the World' to save Luke, and at the same time become a hero and get the attention he feels he deserves.

Colin travels around London looking for someone to help him, but has no luck. He decides to write to the Queen instead, but he doesn't get a reply. So he went for plan B, Colin and his cousin Alistair attempt to break into Buckingham Palace hoping to get assistance from the Queen but they are unsuccessful. Eventually Colin finds the best cancer hospital in London, but no one will listen to his problem and he is thrown out of the hospital by one of the doctors.

At this point he meets Ted Caldicot, who has a seriously ill friend staying at the hospital. Ted introduces Colin to Dr Graham who explains to Colin that Luke's illness is incurable. This is the first time Colin is confronted with the reality of the situation, and also the first time he cries and expresses his anger. Once Colin recovers he visits Ted in his apartment and discovers that Ted, and his partner Griff, are gay. In his dealings with Ted and Griff, Colin comes to realise the importance of family and friends to the sick people in the hospital.

During Colin's attempts to find 'The Best Doctor in the World' he comes up against many hurdles and rejections. Ted helped Colin to realise what is important in life and assists him in making the right decisions. The story has a bittersweet ending. Luke is still seriously ill, but the reader has seen Colin develop from a self-centred, naive young boy to a more mature and thoughtful one who is aware of the people around him and the events affecting them.

Setting

Australia and England - (London)

Notability

Two Weeks with The Queen was published during a time of change in Australia, particularly economic and political change. Then Prime Minister, Paul Keating, announced the recession on November the 29th – the economic struggles of average families is shown in the early part of the book, where Colin’s parents cannot afford to buy him an expensive ‘want’, and instead, give him a ‘need’ - sensible school shoes, which go unappreciated.

Queen Elizabeth visited Australia in 1992 - leading to controversy when Keating placed his hand on her back. Events such as this highlight the differences in familiarity between the two cultures.

AIDS was a growing concern in Australia, and Two Weeks was published only 3 years after the prominent 'Grim Reaper' advertisements, and is significant; Although it presents a gay man with a lover dying of the disease, it humanises Ted and presents his plight as very real, significant, and similar to Colin's struggle with his brother's illness. In 1987, the first hospital for AIDS sufferers was opened by Princess Diana - her hands-on approach contrasting vastly with the absence of the Queen in the text.

Adaptation for theatre

The book was adapted to theatre in 1992 by Mary Morris and premiered at the Sydney Festival in the same year. Directed by Wayne Harrison, it received rich praise from its first performances and has since been produced in England, Canada, Japan, USA, Cuba and Portugal.