'I need to see the Queen about my sick brother.'
The first part of Two Weeks with the Queen is set in Australia. The text is narrated from the point of view of a teenager called Colin, who lives there with his parents and younger brother, Luke. On Christmas Day Luke is taken suddenly and seriously ill and is diagnosed with cancer. In a well-meaning attempt to spare Colin the pain of his brother’s illness, his parents decide to send him to England to stay with relatives Aunty Iris, Uncle Bob and their overprotected son Alistair. Colin is a determined and optimistic character who decides that he will enlist the help of the Queen of England herself to help find a doctor to cure his brother’s cancer. He never manages to meet the Queen but he does meet Ted, an adult unlike all others he has met, and their friendship helps each of them to come to terms with the difficult situation that they both face.
In Two Weeks with the Queen, Colin goes on a journey from his home country (Australia) to a country he is not very familiar with (England).
