Gone With the Windsors
Registered by Caterinaanna of Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on 8/23/2006
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Caterinaanna from Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Pre-numbered label used for registration.
So there I was in Heathrow with my clear plastic bag containing what the Ministry of Transport considered the bare necessities - but not a single book! Having spent hours going through security I knew the flight was delayed, but raced to the bookshelves and grabbed a handful of books - this amongst them - paid and raced to the gate. Oh the relief when I found there were still another 9 or 10 passengers to board!
This was the second book read on the flight. I thought it was an interesting take on the abdication crisis, but found the narrator very silly and her behaviour towards the end showed too sudden a change to be credible. Nonetheless it was fun ...
So there I was in Heathrow with my clear plastic bag containing what the Ministry of Transport considered the bare necessities - but not a single book! Having spent hours going through security I knew the flight was delayed, but raced to the bookshelves and grabbed a handful of books - this amongst them - paid and raced to the gate. Oh the relief when I found there were still another 9 or 10 passengers to board!
This was the second book read on the flight. I thought it was an interesting take on the abdication crisis, but found the narrator very silly and her behaviour towards the end showed too sudden a change to be credible. Nonetheless it was fun ...
Journal Entry 2 by Caterinaanna at Moon River Cafe / Curry Favour @ Stamford House in Singapore, Singapore Singapore on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Released 17 yrs ago (8/15/2006 UTC) at Moon River Cafe / Curry Favour @ Stamford House in Singapore, Singapore Singapore
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
On the bookshelf
On the bookshelf
I picked this up at the OBCZ in Moon River Cafe in Singapore. Looks like a fun read!
This is the diary of Maybell Brumby, an American widow who ends up in London and becomes the companion of Wallis Simpson.
On the surface, a light-hearted book, but a dark cloud looms.. because you know the abdication and the war are coming. It was also a bit sinister to me because Maybell mentions heavy issues with such a superficial tone - for example one of her friends losing his arm in a war or the way she had mis-treated her younger sister. And sometimes Maybell is so clueless to what is really going on, you have to read between the lines to understand the full picture.
The upper-class perspective of events in the 1930s was interesting and reading this book made me look up more about the Windsors in Wikipedia! As I looked up some of the people mentioned I found that many of Maybell's off-hand references and comments are based on historical fact - thus a rather well-researched book! I also learnt about the broken relationships in the royal family after the abdication and the sad end of Wallis especially, which added to the "dark cloud looming" effect of the book for me.
On the surface, a light-hearted book, but a dark cloud looms.. because you know the abdication and the war are coming. It was also a bit sinister to me because Maybell mentions heavy issues with such a superficial tone - for example one of her friends losing his arm in a war or the way she had mis-treated her younger sister. And sometimes Maybell is so clueless to what is really going on, you have to read between the lines to understand the full picture.
The upper-class perspective of events in the 1930s was interesting and reading this book made me look up more about the Windsors in Wikipedia! As I looked up some of the people mentioned I found that many of Maybell's off-hand references and comments are based on historical fact - thus a rather well-researched book! I also learnt about the broken relationships in the royal family after the abdication and the sad end of Wallis especially, which added to the "dark cloud looming" effect of the book for me.
Journal Entry 5 by Carlienka at The British Consulate - Takao in Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung City Taiwan on Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Released 17 yrs ago (3/21/2007 UTC) at The British Consulate - Takao in Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung City Taiwan
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
I left the book in the Harbour hall. Look for the portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the book is underneath the bouquet of roses. Keeping it close to the Windsor family!
I left the book in the Harbour hall. Look for the portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the book is underneath the bouquet of roses. Keeping it close to the Windsor family!
