Review: Another Woman's Husband

Another Woman's Husband by Gill Paul
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wondered if this book would be redundant of another book I read a couple of decades ago about the king who abdicated for an American divorcee. In some ways, it was but only to the extent to establish Wallis’ character. What previous accounts left blank that this one covers wonderfully are the supporting characters of Wallis Simpson’s climb into the history books. In fact, the POV is written as a very old friend of Wallis who plays an important part in her story.

Since I read the earlier book, letters have been released by an anonymous person from Wallis to her ex-husband, Ernest Simpson. They are quite telling of the former Mrs. Simpson and her unrealistic understanding and comprehension of how her own actions created her gilded cage. My previous opinion of Wallis remains unchanged, although there is more depth to my understanding of her. There is a little pity but a more comprehensive understanding of the carnage she left in her wake. She was not the only person who made poor choices and suffered the consequences.

The book also peripherally covers Diana as a parallel storyline covers the time period of her untimely death. Like my parents who could recall where they were and what they were doing when JFK was shot, my generation remembers the shock and horror when Diana died. We felt like we knew her even though we didn’t. She bucked the royal norms and we saw her doing what we were doing; being a mother, playing with her sons, and wearing slacks.

Both of these woman changed the monarchy in some way. Wallis brought down a king. Diana divorced a prince and went on to do charitable work while raising her sons. Prince Charles married his divorced mistress. Can he ascend to throne as king?

Excellent research skills were used to portray the characters of this book.

Thank you to Edelweiss for a digital ARC for review.

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