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GUEST REVIEW: The Windsor Affair by Melanie Benjamin
- Sophia Rose
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
ABOUT THE BOOK
A scandalous affair. A power struggle for the throne. A sensational rivalry between an English queen and an American commoner. In this electrifying novel, the New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue tells the story of the Abdication of Edward VIII—and the two women at the center of it all.
Feuding Windsor brothers and their wives—some things, it seems, never change. The Men: Edward David Windsor, heir to the British throne, and Albert, known as Bertie, his younger brother, “the spare.” The Women: Edward’s wife, Wallis, an American divorcée, and Bertie's wife, Elizabeth, descended from Scottish nobility. The Feud: a rivalry that will last all their lives, make headlines, and still fuel gossip pages nearly a century later.
The Windsor Affair recreates the cataclysmic events that nearly toppled the monarchy and incited the power struggle between Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the queen-to-be, and Wallis Simpson, aka “That Woman," who fell into a calculated love affair with Prince Edward. 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 dedicated to the infamous rivalry between these two world-famous women, 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 for 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 bitter, 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 “In friendship, Elizabeth.”
OPENING LINES
God, how she detested having to murmur, soothe, and coo. For almost ten years, since the abdication, that’s all she’d done.
GUEST REVIEW by Sophia Rose
England’s golden boy had the world swooning over his abdicating a throne for love of a woman, but what of that woman from her perspective? And, what of the woman married to the younger brother who never wished to be king and was forced to hold the line during a dark, gritty war? Melanie Benjamin’s historical novels have long been on my radar, and I was happy to finally slip into her latest dramatic and controversial work, The Windsor Affair.
The novel begins at the end with a chapter from 1946, then dips back into the past of the 1930s, when Edward was a prince and charming a nation. The women’s voices were both heard in alternating points of view, with the occasional interjection from Queen Mary. The then-young Elizabeth recalls him as a captivating figure, flitting in and out of her aristocratic circles for his preferred company: a racier crowd. It was no wonder that Edward was much taken with the bewitching multi-divorcee American, Wallis, and Elizabeth turned her eyes to Edward’s younger brother, Bertie.
From the moment Wallis makes her bid for Edward, or rather, his status and wealth, she can be nothing but an enemy to Elizabeth. Looks, backgrounds, personalities, ideology…they were meant to clash, and they did. While Melanie Benjamin’s story is fiction set in real places and times, with real people, the highly dramatic moments portrayed were sometimes embellished or pure fiction. The theft of Wallis’s jewels was an interesting side mystery that brought into stark relief how Wallis and Elizabeth reacted to the incident. These embittered women battled it out across the decades, then reached a final understanding, if never affection.
Ever since watching The King’s Speech and reading histories of Wallis cozying up to the Nazi party after insinuating herself in with Edward, I was going to be on Elizabeth’s side, but Melanie Benjamin’s portrayal of Wallis made it clear this was not a black-and-white affair. I loved the nuanced characterization and learned to feel some sympathy for Wallis.
All in all, The Windsor Affair tells the tale of a colorful and exciting rivalry set against a glittering and gritty multi-decade swath of history. I’ll be placing Melanie Benjamin’s backlist on my wish list, and I can heartily recommend her latest to historical fiction readers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melanie Benjamin is the New York Times bestselling author of nine works of historical fiction: Alice I Have Been, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, The Aviator’s Wife, The Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Girls in the Picture, Mistress of the Ritz, The Children’s Blizzard, California Golden, and The Windsor Affair. Her novels have been translated in over fifteen languages, featured in national magazines such as Good Housekeeping, People, and Entertainment Weekly, and optioned for film. Melanie is a native of the Midwest, having grown up in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she pursued her first love, theater. After raising her two sons, Melanie, a lifelong reader (including being the proud winner, two years in a row, of her hometown library’s summer reading program!), decided to pursue a writing career. After writing her own parenting column for a local magazine, and winning a short story contest, Melanie published two contemporary novels under her real name, Melanie Hauser, before turning to historical fiction. Melanie lives in Chicago with her husband. In addition to writing, she puts her theatrical training to good use by being a member of the Authors Unbound speakers bureau. When she isn’t writing or speaking, she’s reading. And always looking for new stories to tell.
ABOUT SOPHIA ROSE, Guest Reviewer
Sophia is a quiet, curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants, and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and a loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate. As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer.
Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener, which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction, particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby. Connect with Sophia via FACEBOOK GOODREADS TWITTER
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