A fascinating story of two pathetic people

This was a fascinating read. I knew the basic story of the abdication and I had some idea of what Edward and Wallis were like from other sources, especially their dubious political affiliations, However, what comes over in this book is quite how pathetic and vile both Edward and Wallis really were, he with his baby talk to Wallis (and the dogs according to later chapters in the book) and his obsession with that woman, her with her desperation to get out of her relationship with him, but liking all the things he could give her too much to really get out. If two people deserved the shallow, empty lives they lived after the abdication, they certainly did. I started the book wanting to like Wallis, wanting to see her as the real victim of the abdication, the woman who had been vilified by the world for stealing a King, only to spend her life with an obsessive fool who wouldn’t let go. Though I still think Edward was an obsessive fool, a ridiculous man with absolutely no backbone or thought for other people, I now also see how shallow, selfish and hateful Wallis was. Neither of them have any redeeming features at all. Neither was attractive, far from the matinee idol image he’s had, looking at pictures, I think he looked old by the time he was 40, and she was distinctly masculine in her appearance. Neither had any real intelligence or personality. They must have been a nightmare at dinner parties. Listening to a book about two people who were equally ghastly wasn’t easy, in fact it was a struggle at times, but at the same time their story is strangely fascinating. If it was a fictional story you’d hope that in the end their characters would reform and they would become complete people, but reality isn’t like that. They died as they had lived, shallow, weak, pathetic and unlikeable. My advice to other listeners is to stick with it, if only because Samantha Bond reads it well.

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Excellent biography in spite of insipid subject!

The biographer has really done an excellent job and has written an objective account of the life of Wallis Simpson and indirectly she has revealed a great deal about Edward, the Duke of Windsor. Wallis seems to have spent her life shopping and having dinner parties and dieting. All this against a background of one of the most troubled periods of history in the twentieth century. Indeed it is the history in the background and incidentally other historical figures such as Wilson Churchill which make the story so interesting.
She seems to have imagined that having identified ancestors going back to William the Conqueror gave her some kind of superiority. The Duke comes across as a spoilt brat who never reached adult age. To think that he would have interrupted the recital of Arthur Rubenstein, (who for me is one of the greatest piano virtuosos of all time) making it clear he had had enough really disgusted me.
The most curious part of the book concerns Wallis' possible syndrome. Male or female? The discussion of her sexual hold over the Duke seems more like heresay and gossip rather than real facts. The author informs but does not make any claims.
I admire the biographer's art as I think I probably would have written a very one-sided and damning story! The narrator is excellent.
Whether you are an admirer or a detractor of 'Wally', I'm sure you will enjoy this read.

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7 people found this helpful

Totally absorbing!

I couldn't put it down. This reads more like a novel than a biography, except it contains a wealth of detail about the young Wallis. There are no holds barred, Wallis Simpson is not whitewashed in this book, but I think it's almost impossible to finish it without a great deal of sympathy for her. To a large extent trapped in her own time,and subject to the mores and limitations of what was expected of a woman in the early part of the twentieth century, she navigates with ambition and style to the top of the tree, and then finds herself trapped.

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5 people found this helpful

Nothing new here

I didn't learn anything new about the appalling D and D of Windsor. And my opinion of them both is unaltered. But thank God she did what she did because without her ensnarement of Edward the British people would soon have been under the Nazi jackboot.

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3 people found this helpful

Compelling

A compelling download, well read and very interesting. The author doesn't champion WS, nor attack her, so the general neutrality makes it even more enjoyable. I was ready to dislike WS, I suppose - and at the end of the book I did dislike her quite a lot, but I certainly felt I understood more about what drove this extraordinary woman. I also felt great pity for her and Edward who seems to have been weak, deluded and baffled. The international turmoil that served as the backdrop to this bizarre story is very well woven. Living history.

One weak point (not weak enough to lose a star though) was a persistent theory advanced by the author about the sexuality of WS. The author believes - but presents no actual evidence for this - that WS was born with both male and female sexual characteristics. There is no proof, so it's nothing more than an interesting but probably flawed theory.

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15 people found this helpful

Detailed dramatic life story with fantastic narration by Samantha Bond

Of course we all think we know about Mrs Simpson and the abdication but this finely researched biography expands on Wallis’s upbringing and earlier marriages to paint a complex figure and not wholly unsympathetic character. Samantha Bond brings Wallis to life with drawling quotes and an animated delivery of detailed facts about her circumstances and her circling of Edward VIII. Ensnared in exile, the section about their wartime governance of the Bahamas is particularly enlightening. If you enjoys this then there is an expansion of the Windsor’s time on the Riviera in Anne de Courcy’s Chanel’s Riviera and this itself overlaps nicely with Anne Sebba’s Les Parisiennes for a picture of life in Occupied France.

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Very Even Handed

I was expecting either a whitewash situation or a full character assassination but happy found the author very even handed, which meant that I could enjoy the recount. Fascinating detail around their private lives whilst abroad and their personal, private life.

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2 people found this helpful

Thoroughly Enjoyable.

Interesting and insightful, the first book I've listened to or read about Mrs Simpson and it was thoroughly enjoyable.
One note, for me, slowing the reading speed from 1.00 to 0.80 improved the narration.

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2 people found this helpful

Intriguing

Very interesting book of modern history, with shed loads of stuff we didn't know! Very good narrator too! Throughly recommend

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2 people found this helpful

If you are a Wallis fan - this is for you!

Wallis's life has been written about ad nauseum and this biography of the Duchess of Windsor churns out much of the established story. However in this book the author does try hard to portray Wallis in a positive light. even if this means making the ex King seem a bit of a wimp!
New material includes the breathtaking fact that Wallis was still writing longingly to Ernest Simpson after their divorce even continuing when she was married to Edward. Teasingly details of Wallis playing whooppe with a second hand car salesman whilst being married to Ernest and lover?? to Edward comes to light too! Busy girl!
Only fly in the ointment for me is the writer reads the book. And it shows. Writers are for writing, professional readers are for reading. Very nice try Anne but Eleanor Bron et al could have done a better job especially in the American drawl department!

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