I was intrigued with this novel and anxious to read it. I know of the scandal that Edward, Prince of Wales created when he abdicated the thrown to wed American divorcee Wallis Simpsons. I know about the affairs that Edward, who was called David by family and friends, had before Wallis came into his life.
What I had no idea about was the connection that his prior mistress was also an American. I also did not know that Gloria (Sr.) Vanderbilt had an identical twin sister, Thelma, who was that mistress.
This is Thelma’s story. While Gloria married Reggie Vanderbilt, Thelma married Viscount Marmaduke Furness. It’s a story of sisterly devotion. All told in dueling timelines, which at times was hard to keep straight as the characters overlapped in both narratives.
Thelma is the toast of London both before and after marrying Furness. After being introduced to Prince Edward, by her husband no less, she begins to feel things she never felt before. And luckily for her, Edward/David was also struck by Cupid’s arrow. I felt as if I truly knew this woman after reading this scrumptious novel.
Edward/David was a playboy, unable to keep his wandering eye in one place for very long. That is why Thelma asked her BFF Wallis to keep an eye on him when she had to return to New York to be with Gloria during the custody battle over her daughter, known as Little Gloria. She was sure he would stray…he already had…but never could she imagine that it would be with her friend.
Author Turnbull propels readers back to the 1920s and ’30, between the World Wars, and a world that was both innocent and wise. I have to wonder what CNN’s Anderson Cooper thinks of this novel putting his great-grandmother, grandmother, great-aunt and mother and their scandals back into the public eye. I feel bad for him, but history is what it is. Even if the facts and time frames have been somewhat altered.
"The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal " gets 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
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