“Imagine having ringside seats to the biggest sex scandal in British history since Henry VIII decided to embrace serial monogamy. If British royalty is your cup of English breakfast tea — go with the Windsors!” USA Today, Aug 7, 2006
Everyone knows that a homely-looking divorcee from Baltimore stole the heart of the King of England, but no-one has ever really answered the question ‘How?’
The 1930s diary of Wallis Simpson’s fictional friend, Maybell Brumby, provides the scoop on the courtship, the abdication and the flight into exile, as the world rolls relentlessly towards war.
ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPH…
Like Future Homemakers, Gone With the Windsors happened because of a photo. I was on my annual visit to New York, teetering on the top of a stepladder in the Strand book store, leafing through books, looking for a hook for a possible ‘royal’ novel. I came upon a picture of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and nearly fell off my perch. I can’t show you because I no longer have the picture, but I’ll describe it to you.
The Duke and Duchess are in the back of a limo and clearly having a row. She, in full Cruella de Vil mode, is giving him a tongue-lashing. He, once a King upon whose empire the sun never set, looks like a small beaten puppy. I’d always heard that this was the Great Love Story of the 20th century. Well!
I could hardly wait to get back to my desk.
Praise for Gone with the Windsors
“Gone with the Windsors is irresistible.” Diane White, Boston Globe, Aug 13, 2006
“An absolute pleasure from start to finish. By infusing her sharp satire and meticulous social observation with a certain sweetness, Laurie Graham proves herself a master of showing without needing to tell.”
Time Out, Kate Riordan, August 10 2005
“Impossible to put down. Caustically funny and ultimately, deeply moving. This has to be the book for the summer.” Attitude Magazine, Wayne Clews, June 2005
“Maybell Brumby is a wonderfully sassy creation, with a heart of gilt.”
Sunday Times, Penny Perrick, June 26 2005