Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White

I guess begins to TRY and find and original out-of-print copy. I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but after all these years I'm sitting here wondering if I'm even going to be able to finish the book. Updating television programs and references to celebrities to make it more 'today' but I'm only 15 pages in and almost in tears. I didn't do my homework before buying this and didn't realize that the book(s) had gone through a rewrite. But for me, personally, I am SO disappointed. I don't want this to put off any readers who might like to check out this book, because it is truly a wonderful book.

I was SO tickled when I heard the books were being re-released! At last a chance to re-read on of my all-time favorites for the first time in years. I checked it out time and time again from my local library until (unfortunately) the copy was stolen and never replaced. Long Live The Queen was always my favorite of the series. I own a very battered paperback of the 'original' White House Autumn that I've read time and time again.

I was really quite young when I discovered this series back in the 80's. The label 'political thriller' certainly fits. If I could read fast enough, I would have read this book in one sitting. In fact, she knows that one of them betrayed her. Meg is also afraid given the failure of her secret service patrol to protect her. Meg is angry with her mother for being the president and thus putting Meg in a position to be kidnapped. And once Meg returns, the president has to divide her time between being a mother to Meg and being the president. Meg would never have been kidnapped were she not the daughter of the president. Politics are woven into this story of tremendous pain and perseverance. It's hard to believe that Meg could be planning such a thing when only a week or two earlier the drive from the hospital to the White House terrified her. By the end of the book, Meg is planning to start college at George Washington University in just a few weeks. Beth seems to fix Meg's emotional reaction to what's happened to her much too easily. We are inside Meg's head until her best friend arrives. In the third section, Meg is home at the White House. Again, White keeps us inside Meg's head, and what's going on in Meg's head seems very realistic. In the second section, Meg is in the hospital. He tortures her mercilessly but also brings a bottle of good scotch into the room where she's being held and sits and drinks it with her. Meg interacts with only one of the terrorists. White keeps us inside Meg's head and what's going on in Meg's head seems very realistic.

In this third installment of Meg Powers' life as the daughter of the first female president of the United States, Meg is kidnapped by terrorists just before her high school graduation.

Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White