Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Teen Fiction, Young Adult Fiction. Social and Family Issues
Independent
Aug 31, 2023
Kindle
165
Amazon
Queen Harriet of Wonderland is forced to marry an aristocrat’s son, Harrison Black, after her parents’ deaths, so that her kingdom will have a male ruler. Reluctant to sacrifice her happiness for political reasons, she laments her plight at first but soon discovers the charms of her new husband. She and Harrison love each other and become the epitome of bliss. However, the Mad Hatter, a poor commoner who is dissatisfied with the royals, leads several protests in Wonderland in an attempt to overthrow their regime. The furious protesters barge into the palace one day, and a tragedy ensues.
A heartbroken Harriet is bereft of hope and left alone to deal with the aftermath, yet an earth-shattering surprise kindles her will to live—she is one month pregnant. As the tension between the royal court and the commoners escalates, Harriet must protect her baby and secure her throne against all odds, for everything that concerns her is at stake.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
I am sure most of you are familiar with Alice in Wonderland and all the characters she meets, including the tyrannical Queen of Hearts. This is the queen’s story and a story that will explain how she became the tyrant of Wonderland.
Wonderland is a male dominated realm meaning Princess Harriet can never inherit the throne despite being the only child of the king and queen. When both her parents died, she was expected to marry right after her eighteenth birthday and the choice of who she would marry was out of her hands. She is a royal without any power over her life.
The day of her wedding she met her groom, Harrison Black, the son of an aristocrat and who is the same age as her. Harriet never expected the stranger she married to become the love of her life. Harrison was gentle, caring, loving and very protective of his bride. Her dreams of a loving marriage have come true.
Harrison is the king and Harriet is the Queen Consort who is expected to sit by the king’s side and say nothing. Harrison is the one that speaks on his wife’s behalf, if she has something to say then he respects her right to say it.
A problem has surfaced regarding the commoners who want to overthrow the monarchy and the protests are led by the Mad Hatter. He has convinced the people that he is on their side and cares about them, unfortunately the opposite is true, power is his motivator. Every morning Harrison and Harriet attend court before the ministers and courtiers and every morning Duchess Dumont creates havoc, her hatred for Harriet has always been evident.
Harriet finds solace with her husband and in her garden, the Cheshire Cat, the mock turtles and the mushrooms all give her a sense of peace and always seem to be on her side. The fear of the commoners raiding the palace comes to bear and ends with a tragedy that will be the beginning of the end for Wonderland.
Harriet is pregnant and the Duchess Dumont insists that Harriet abort the child. If a girl is born the commoners will be up in arms, she and the ministers and courtiers can insist all they want because whether the baby is a girl or not, she is a mother and will protect her child with everything she can. Eventually, even those she trusted and loved become her enemy. She stands strong and won’t be swayed and even though she is a queen she still has little authority over her life.
I won’t go into details about what happened to Harriet, now called the Queen of Hearts, but if the situation was mine I would more than likely have been as tyrannical as her if not more.
This was a very happy beginning in what would turn out to be a very unhappy ending. I loved this story and found myself ignoring eating and chores in favor of finishing the book, a book I highly recommend everyone should read.
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