Gone With the Windsors

by Laurie Graham

It's not that I haven't been reading, but I was actually in the middle of three books, and this is the first among them I finished.

I fully expected a thirties' style chicklit tell-all, and in some ways this book is that, but I didn't expect to be as entertained as much as I have.

This is a work of fiction, but Laurie Graham created her characters so plausibly and kept faith with history so well that I often forgot that Maybelle Brumby didn't exist, and wasn't the paymaster general of Wallis Simpson.

The book is an interesting angle into one of the greatest love stories of the 20th century--the king who gave up his throne for love.

But the book asks its reader to wonder whether Edward VIII was really just a coward or a real idiot, and not the romantic most people are convinced he was.

It makes one think about how history might have gone down if Edward (called David in the book by Wally and intimates, which I think was actually how it was in real life) had remained King, and simply kept Wally Simpson as a mistress.

It also makes the reader question the utility of the British Royals. They fascinate, but perhaps everyone (including they!) would be better off if the monarchy no longer existed, and they could be Just People, instead of People with Duties and Obligations.

The diarist is both funny and sad, in her profligacy with money, in her narrow-mindedness, in her speed for disregarding advice which didn't suit her--but then again she wouldn't have been a convincing character if she didn't have those flaws and others. I admit though to being impatient as to when she'd finally have it out with Wally and her smooching and belittling and dictating. It took 8 years!!

The book also made me think of Charles and Diana and Camilla. What if Charles had learned the lesson of his great-uncle? What if he'd settled down with Camilla from the very beginning? Then likely more folks would have been happier all around. But then we'd never have had Diana for the 17 years she captivated the world. (Can you tell I was a big Diana fan? Her death depressed the crap out of me.) And maybe Wills wouldn't be as good-looking as he is.