The Duchess: From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Governess

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The first half of the novel is also marred by cliché – Van Der Leyden finds it "hard to resist the foxy smell of [Cora's] hair and the downy smoothness of her cheeks"; and, during the duke's proposal, tears come to Cora's eyes "for the speed of her surrender, tears for all the other futures there might have been".

Der beliebte britische Sportprinz, der für die geschiedene Amerikanerin den Thron aufgab und ihre Geschichte so unsterblich machte.

I find it hard to totally sympathize with the woman who looked delighted to meet Hitler and his cronies, but then again it wasn't until the late 30's that people began to see what was really going on in Germany and it's easy to judge the past knowing what went on. none of the entertaining but men are still as enthralled as ever with her beauty and keen intelligence and they flock around her, even knowing they can't have her. But here, Holden paints an intriguing portrait of the spirited, stylish woman who has been blamed for the abdication of King Edward VIII… and, daringly, imagines Wallis as an unwitting victim of a man who never wanted to be king and deliberately used their affair as an escape route from his royal destiny.

The time to capture the aid of the apocalypse -- the ring bearer of pandemics, the piper of the Bacharoths, the murdered, the warmonger -- was within her reach. De vrouwen kleuren niet binnen de zeer strakke Windsor-lijnen, en hun wereld van etiquette en protocollen. When 34-year-old Wallis Simpson arrives in London with her new husband, Ernest, from New York, she is eager to start a new life after a tricky few years, including a divorce from her abusive first husband.Hiernaast boeide de relatie tussen Ernest en Wallis mij niet zo, ik had graag meer nadruk gehad op hoe Wallis de prins leerde kennen en hoe het allemaal begon. Author Wendy Holden introduces the reader to a new viewpoint on the relationship between Wallis Simpson and the Prince of Wales. Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s bestselling authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. The carriers of the truth, those who were aware of how bleak the future of the world was…… They remembered almost everything.

In this book, we follow Wallis Simpson at two crucial moments of her life: at the funeral for her beloved David and when she first met the prince who would change her life. She ignores her poor husband and carries on like a young single woman, partying and lunching at the Ritz. Upon learning Fabienne's story, Angelique decides she will open a brothel and it will be the finest, most exclusive brothel available in Paris. Tossed in a new world without connections and allies, she has to either accept her fate or lose the chance to help her people once again.One of the delights of historical fiction is the what-if factor, and Holden poses a whopper: What if Edward never really wanted to be king and pursued Wallis, whom he knew he couldn’t marry as monarch, to avoid the throne We’ll never know, but fans of biographical fiction and British royalty will thoroughly enjoy this sparkling tale of love and loss. love, Isla could not believe the man at her front was her husband, even if his appearance had not changed since her escape from the Hayes Duchy.

Her many international bestsellers include Property of a Noblewoman , Blue , Precious Gifts , Undercover , Country , Prodigal Son , Pegasus , A Perfect Life , and other highly acclaimed novels. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

I found the 1930s part of the story particularly compelling but was less enamoured by the 1970s narrative; Holden’s take on the British royal family was probably novel when she wrote it but it felt like it was covering similar ground to the recent Netflix series, The Crown. Wallis had a reputation for being extraordinarily amusing which didn't quite come across --and I found her obsession with her wardrobe, and a yearning to belong to England's dull, snobbish and utterly vile top drawer of society a bit repetitive. Although Wallis is portrayed early in the book as being a real social climber and extremely desperate to move above her lowly station, I do feel that the second half of the book shows her in a much more sympathetic light.