Publication Date: October 15, 2024
Self-made billionaire Dakota Wynfred is convinced that the only way to save American democracy is by putting the last Tudor Queen in the Oval Office.
Dakota Wynfred will stop at nothing to prevent the reelection of the vile US president, Robert Vlakas, who wants to nationalize her cybersecurity company and simultaneously set fire to the Constitution. And that includes finding a champion who can defeat him in the 2028 presidential election.
But it won’t be easy because Dakota’s champion of choice—though brilliant, politically savvy, charming, and tough enough to survive multiple assassination attempts—happens to have been dead for over 400 years.
So, what if Queen Elizabeth I has never heard of electricity, Netflix, or Uber?
Dakota’s team of experts travel back in time to try to convince Elizabeth to leap more than four centuries into the future to embark on a quest to become the greatest woman ruler in history…again.
With the future of her cybersecurity company in jeopardy, Dakota Wynfred relies on new technology to find a solution, even if it is rather unorthodox.
Author Maria Vetrano serves up a slice of satirical fiction in Queen Bess. To save her company and even the country, Dakota is counting on putting a tried and true leader in the White House. Although being dead for four centuries might be enough of a deterrent, Dakota and her team have perfected time travel.
The only person capable of unseating the despicable President Vlakas is Queen Elizabeth I of England. As part of her re-education program, colloquial English is high on the list. Some of the dialog is a bit challenging to follow, but the authenticity rings true.
While the overall storyline certainly lends itself to fiction, the criticism of Republican leadership echoes statements made in the current presidential race. The addition of a revamped royal makes for some interesting twists.
Queen Bess serves up a champion for a country in distress, pulled straight from the 16th century.
Maria Vetrano tried to save the whales when she was nine years old. It didn’t quite work. But that didn’t quell her desire to ease some of the world’s ills in some small way, even if only through fiction. She is the mother of one young adult daughter and currently lives with her wife and animal family in Massachusetts. When she’s not writing, Maria is the principal of Vetrano Communications, the PR and marketing firm she founded in 2004 that specializes in tech clientele. Maria is also a lounge singer who’s entertained audiences in Boston, Cambridge, and Provincetown. Along with her wife, she created Against the Tide, a fundraising event to fight breast cancer. She is a graduate of Colgate University with a BA in English literature.
I read the book and I think it is more about bridging the divide and the story of a close knit group of friends coming together with for an uncommon cause.