Woman Before Wallis is a good account of the relationship between David, future King Edward, and Thelma Morgan, twin sister of Gloria Vanderbilt. We get a glimpse of the lives of the rich and famous and see many of their short comings.
The writing style is easy to read and
…more includes many historical details. Most of the characters are well developed and I learned some background about David and his brother Bertie who becomes king. Fun to imagine the early days of the parents of Queen Elizabeth.
The book was interesting to me because I knew about many of the characters but never heard of Thelma. The story evolves documenting how Thelma and David become involved and eventually are distanced. A short coming was not enough detail about their breakup and Wallis' influence. I would have preferred that over the very detailed account of the Vanderbilt custody trial.
Turnbull's first historical fiction novel is a winner and I look forward to more stories of little known historical women from her. (less)