💍 👑 "The Woman Before Wallis" (2020) 👑 💍 - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: MIRA (July 21, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 077836020
ISBN-13: 978-0778361022
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Picture for Purchase Information
“In the summer of 1926, when Thelma Morgan
marries Viscount Duke Furness after a whirlwind romance, she’s immersed in a
gilded world of extraordinary wealth and privilege. For Thelma, the daughter of
an American diplomat, her new life as a member of the British aristocracy is
like a fairy tale—even more so when her husband introduces her to Edward,
Prince of Wales.
In a twist of fate, her marriage to Duke leads her to fall headlong into a love affair with Edward. But happiness is fleeting, and their love is threatened when Thelma’s sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, becomes embroiled in a scandal with far-reaching implications. As Thelma sails to New York to support Gloria, she leaves Edward in the hands of her trusted friend Wallis, never imagining the consequences that will follow. ”
In a twist of fate, her marriage to Duke leads her to fall headlong into a love affair with Edward. But happiness is fleeting, and their love is threatened when Thelma’s sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, becomes embroiled in a scandal with far-reaching implications. As Thelma sails to New York to support Gloria, she leaves Edward in the hands of her trusted friend Wallis, never imagining the consequences that will follow. ”
Thank
you in advance to the publisher, Mira, as well as BookClubbish for providing an
advanced review copy. A positive review was not required or requested and all
words are my own.
Let’s
start off with this elegant, classy cover which is suitable for the story. But
don’t let the cover fool you – this is not a classy, fairytale romance. There
is scandal – lots of it. And, it is not only on the Royal side, but the
Vanderbilt side as well.
Until
this book came out – I had no idea how connected the Vanderbilt and Royal family
was. And, it is through Thelma, the twin sister of Gloria Morgan that the
connection exists.
This is
not the Gloria Vanderbilt of the fashion and fragrance industry. That Gloria is
more famously known as “Little Gloria”, the child at the center of a
contentious custody trial in the mid 1930’s, which at the time was dubbed “the
trial of the century”. It is Little Gloria who is the mother of CNN’s Anderson
Cooper.
Little
Gloria’s mother is his grandmother, so Thelma Morgan Furness is his great-aunt.
It is Thelma who is dubbed “The Woman Before Wallis”.
As
these are real life people – they are definitely believable, despite some of
the creative license taken with this story.
Since
this is a historical fiction novel, based on actual events, the plot is
excellent (no obvious plot holes), and definitely inspired me to do more
research. It is also an educational read.
For a
debut author, this is written extremely well and kept me interested. I honestly
felt at times like I could close my eyes and live this in person.
If you’re
familiar with the history of the Vanderbilts, the Windsors, or even the trial –
the dialogue and content is very believable. And, the author spends equal time
on both the trial and Thelma’s “relationship” with the future monarch. Turnbull
also goes into Thelma’s marriage to Lord Marmaduke “Duke” Furness which led to
meeting Edward/David; Prince of Wales.
Told in
third person from Thelma’s POV the book is “somewhat” a dual timeline – events before
the trial, and events during the trial. It takes place before World War II and
the epilogue is just after the war in 1946. I would’ve been interested to see
how the war impacted everyone; however this story was focused on the tale of
the lesser known woman in Edward’s life.
I was
drawn to this book based on what has happened recently with the Duke (Harry)
and Duchess (Megan) of Sussex leaving the Royal Family or stepping down from it.
There are comparisons to Prince/King Edward VIII (the current monarch’s uncle)
and Wallis Simpson. Naturally, as I hadn’t known about Thelma Morgan’s
involvement – this was a book I had to read.
As far
as content – it is a clean read. There is no foul language, which most of the
Mira books I’ve read are clean for the most part. The only sex scenes
referenced in it take place “off page”; there is some mention of drug use
(Gloria using Cocaine); and perhaps an intimated lesbian affair (which was
mentioned during the real life “trial of the century” for Little Gloria). It
was heart-breaking at one point to see Little Gloria (which is what she was
called) absolutely terrified of her mother. Thelma for the most part is the
strongest character in this novel – taking care of Gloria, being a friend to
her step-children, and managing her “affair” with Edward.
This
was a real page-turner; however I pretty much knew what was going to happen as
it is part of history, so there are spoilers out there. This is a book where it
is impossible to avoid them. It was a very entertaining read though, and I didn’t
want to put it down. This is one of the books that as soon as my mom saw it,
she said “I want to read that”.
While
my mom loves to read – she doesn’t read as much as I do. And, us reading the
same books is a very rare occurrence. After this review I will be loaning it to
her directly after I post my reviews.
With a
story like this – there is SO much needed to include, and sometimes given the “space”,
it’s hard to know what to exclude to include something.
A book
of this nature is one that is hard to review.
The
author included some interesting tidbits about the Royal family.
It is
interesting at one point to read about “Elizabeth” (future Queen Mother) and a
scene just after Margaret (future Countess of Snowden) is born with “Lilibet”
running around. For those who might not know this, Lilibet was Queen Elizabeth’s
nickname when she was a child.
Turnbull
references the current monarch’s father as “Bertie” as his name was Albert
Frederick Arthur George. Thus “Bertie” is a nickname for Albert. This was
something my mother knew that I didn’t.
Edward,
for most of the book, is referred to as “David”; this is likely due to his name
being Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David – the former Prince
of Wales (which is currently Prince Charles), but was relegated to Duke of
Windsor after his abdication and marriage to Wallis Simpson in 1937.
As a
result of Gloria’s trial for her daughter – Thelma ended up leaving him in the
care of Wallis Simpson who was then married. The novel does not go into detail
regarding Wallis’ divorce, how she and Edward got close, or their marriage. That
is something I would’ve liked to have learned more about.
Fans of
the Royal Family might be interested in this story, those interested in the Vanderbilts
might be interested, or anyone interested in historical fiction based on real
life figures. Turnbull did some extensive research and it shows in this novel.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating
explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRYN TURNBULL is a writer of historical fiction with a
penchant for fountain pens. Equipped with a master’s of letters in creative
writing from the University of St. Andrews, a master’s of professional
communication from Ryerson University and a bachelor’s degree in English
literature from McGill University, Bryn focuses on finding the stories of women
lost within the cracks of the historical
record. She lives in Toronto. The Woman
Before Wallis is her first novel.
You can
follow her on the following social media accounts:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brynturnbullwrites
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/brynturnbull
Or visit her website here: https://www.brynturnbull.com/
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