The Windsor Affair: A Novel by Melanie Benjamin

 

Feuding Windsor brothers and their wives—some things, it seems, never change. The Windsor Affair recreates the cataclysmic events that nearly toppled the monarchy and incited the power struggle between Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Wallis Simpson. Told from the perspective of both women, the novel propels readers into the fabulous world of the debonair Prince of Wales, café society of the 1930s, and the glittering private lives of the Windsors. The first novel to be dedicated to this infamous rivalry, The Windsor Affair brings us all the gossip and intrigue between the two very different—yet perhaps more similar than they would admit—wives of royals.

As Queen, Elizabeth would become the symbol of British pluck and courage during World War II and remain a British institution the rest of her long life. Wallis would be forever forced to enact the World’s Greatest Love Story even after it sours, as she goes from being admired to vilified and, ultimately, pitied. Against the backdrop of the Abdication Crisis, World War II, coronations, funerals, births, and deaths, these two women maintain a biting, sharp-tongued feud—until age and the long arm of history bring about a kind of understanding. For the last communication between these bitter rivals was a simple, surprising message: “In friendship, Elizabeth.”

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About The Author

 

Melanie Benjamin, a New York Times bestselling author, lives in Chicago. Her novels THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE and THE AVIATOR'S WIFE were New York Times, USA Today and IndieBound bestsellers. Other novels include the award-winning THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD, ALICE I HAVE BEEN, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB, THE GIRLS IN THE PICTURE, MISTRESS OF THE RITZ AND CALIFORNIA GOLDEN. You can find her on Substack, Instagram and Facebook.

 

My Review

 

Most everyone knows the story of King Edward and Wallis Simpson, a king that gave up the thrown to marry the women he loved.
The author gives us quite a spin on the lives of these famous people. Queen Elizabeth's mother, Elizabeth Bowen-Lyons and Wallis Simpson, claws out and of course, this is a fictional read, but there maybe a lot truth to all of this. What really happened to the jewels? Even with the author's notes we are left hanging, did she or not?
The notes also had me wondering about Wallis, could be as the author suggests!
This is a historical read, we go through Kings and Wars, the home life and the royal life, and mainly the women in the kings lives. Interesting!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Ballantine, and was not required to give a positive review.