{{Short description|1952 American novel by Inglis Fletcher}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{infobox book | name = Queen's Gift | title_orig = | image = File:Queen's_Gift.png | caption = Title page for ''Queen's Gift'' (1952) | author = Inglis Fletcher | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | genre = | publisher = Bobbs-Merrill | release_date = 1952 | media_type = Print (hardcover) | pages = 448 | isbn = | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''Queen's Gift''''' is a 1952 American historical novel by Inglis Fletcher, the seventh (of twelve) titles in her "Carolina Series" that began in 1940 with the publication of ''Raleigh's Eden''.<ref>Hass, Victor P. "Seventh, and Last, of the 'Carolina Novels.'" ''Omaha World-Herald'' Vol. 68 No. 9 p29G. 19 October 1952. Accessed 13 September 2025.</ref>
The story mixes fictional romantic plot-lines with actual historical events surrounding the political conflicts associated with North Carolina's entry into the Union. James Iredell, Samuel Johnston and Penelope Barker are among the actual historical figures depicted; it also dramatizes historical events like the Hillsborough and Fayetteville Conventions.<ref>Spearman, Walter. "Literary Lantern." ''Greensboro Daily News'' Vol. LXXXII No. 94 p3. 19 October 1952. Accessed 13 September, 2025.</ref><ref>H.L.C. "Fanfare From Inglis Fletcher." ''Greensboro Daily News'' Vol. LXXXII No. 94 p3. 19 October 1952. Accessed 13 September, 2025.</ref>
Fletcher reportedly called ''Queen's Gift'' "the most difficult book she had ever written" up to that point.<ref>Walser, Richard. "Seventh and Last In the Carolina Series." ''The News & Observer'' Vol. CLXXXV No. 90 pIV-5. 19 October 1952. Accessed 13 September 2025.</ref>
==Publication history== As with Fletcher's other Carolina Novels, ''Queen's Gift'' was published by Bobbs-Merrill in hardcover with a colorful wraparound illustrated dust jacket by Paul Laune. In addition to a Canadian hardcover edition, the novel was published in full in the August 1, 1953, edition of ''The Vancouver Province'' as their Province Book-of-the-Week.<ref>''The Vancouver Province'', supplement ''Province Book-of-the-Week'' Vol. 56 No. 107 pp1-12. August 1, 1956. Accessed April 16, 2026.</ref> It was republished in mass market paperback format by Bantam in 1973.
==Reception== Richard Walser, a reviewer for the Raleigh News and Observer, said that "''Queen's Gift'' represents Inglis Fletcher at her best" and declared that "(n)o literate North Carolinan would ever dare admit not having read it."<ref>Walser, Richard. "Seventh and Last In the Carolina Series." ''The News & Observer'' Vol. CLXXXV No. 90 pIV-5. 19 October 1952. Accessed 13 September 2025.</ref> Victor P. Hass also provided a positive review, writing of its position in the series: "I closed ''Queen's Gift'' with real regret; it will seem strange not to look forward to another panel in the series."<ref>Hass, Victor P. "Seventh, and Last, of the 'Carolina Novels.'" ''Omaha World-Herald'' Vol. 68 No. 9 p29G. 19 October 1952. Accessed 13 September 2025.</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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Category:1952 American novels Category:American historical novels Category:Bantam Books books Category:Bobbs-Merrill Company books Category:Fiction set in 1788 Category:Novels set in the Thirteen Colonies Category:Novels set in the early national era United States Category:Novels set in North Carolina Category:1952 English-language novels