Gloriana by Oliver Richbell

Paperback:  90 pages                                                                                                
Genre: Novella Nostalgia Series, Thriller,
Publisher: City Fiction, September 2018
Source: The Publishers and author, in return for an honest and unbiased review.
First Sentence: The morning mist rose from the Thames like swirls of white candyfloss and as his jet-black chauffeur-driven car glided over Westminster Bridge, Sebastian Pennington was idly peering through the tinted windows watching the great unwashed shuffling along on the pavement.
Main Characters: Sir William Bretherinby, Clive Ferringsly QC, Brigadier General Xavier Llewellyn-Jones, Katherine MacStones, Philip Nicholson, Sebastian Pennington and Samantha Wyde.
Setting: London, England
My Opinion:Gloriana is the fifth title in the Novella Nostalgia series, the first four titles in the series were written by the author Tony Drury but 'Gloriana' which is inspired by the film 'Valkyrie' is a debut publication for Oliver Richbell.
I am not a fan of short stories or novellas and therefore rarely read or review any. However as Tony Drury and his colleagues have kindly sent the series to me for honest and unbiased reviews, I have read them! The series links iconic cinema classics with modern stories, though to be honest the former is rather wasted on me as though a fan of modern cinema I am not well up on the classics.

It may be coincidental that this title was published recently, but the timing is perfect as it is indeed very topical!

My opinion on novellas remains the same and although I enjoyed reading Gloriana I would have preferred it to be a full length novel. It just seemed to have got interesting to me when it ended! Still a worthwhile read, well written with good characterisation and despite only being ninety pages long it is an action packed roller coaster that feels dangerously realistic.

For those looking for quick reads, then of course I recommend not just this title but the entire series, Novella Nostalgia is certainly a name to look out for as more titles are added to the collection.


My reviews of the earlier titles in the series can be read here


Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

A change must be made
Permanently removing The PM is the only way

This was the conclusion drawn by a band of conspirators intent on reversing what they saw to be the devastating result of the Brexit Referendum.
With the Middle Eastern Trade Agreement being signed that night the time for decisive action had arrived.
The plan had been calculated with military precision and when its leader declared “we go tonight” the accomplices were prepared to activate the Gloriana paper and to wrestle back the United Kingdom’s place in the European Union by assassinating The Prime Minister.




Author Profile:

Oliver was born in 1977 and qualified as a Solicitor in 2007. He worked in London for a litigation and sports law practice before a brief stint in two regional firms. In 2010 he married in his sweetheart and in 2014 he became a father. in 2015 Oliver took a leap of faith and formed his own dispute resolution consultancy. Oliver loves to write and has now achieved one of his many ambitions in life in becoming a published author. His first work, Gloriana, was published in September 2018 and inspired by the movie Valkyrie, Gloriana tells a story of a band of conspirators intent on assassinating The Prime Minister in the aftermath of the Brexit Referendum. Oliver's next work will be out in early 2019 and his first novel will be out soon thereafter.


Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following site.

Amazon Author Page - Oliver Richbell