One of my favorite books by Beatriz Williams is ALONG THE INFINITE SEA. Now, I have to admit that I love plenty of her books, but that one just rocked my world as I listened to the audio version. One thing one has to know is that William's books often are connected in some way or another. You can even visit Beatriz Williams' home page to get the Schuyler family tree and the books they each appear in. Anyhow the reason I mention all this is that THE GOLDEN HOUR has connections to ALONG THE INFINITE SEA. I actually had a jaw-dropping moment when I realized towards the end of the book the connection. But, enough about that. What about the story you may wonder?
In 1941 Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrived in the Bahamas to write about the new Governor there. The Governor happens to be the ex-king of Great Britain, the Duke of Windsor. And, he's there with his wife, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. But, the closer she gets to the Duchess, the more she realizes that there is more to her than meets the eye. And, that Bahamas is not a safe place to be. There are spies around the island, racial unrest, and not to mention money swindling. But, there is also love among it all, if Lulu dares to open her heart. When the man she loves, Benedict Thorpe, disappear is it up to Lulu to travel to London to find him. And doing so we learn more about Benedict's past and his mother's tragic life.
Not only do we get a great love story between Lulu and Benedict, but we also get a truly epic love story between his mother Elfriede and Wilfred, the man she meets when she is convalescing after the birth of her son. Through the book, the stories shift between, Elfriede and Wilfred at the beginning of the 1900s to Lulu and Benedict in 1940s wartime. I loved both stories, or all three one could say since the 40s story in both told from Lulu's perspective when she arrives in Bahamas 1941 and forward, as well as in 1943 when she's in London.
THE GOLDEN HOUR is a truly great book, and I had a great joy reading it, and it was with a bit of sadness that I read the last page although it made me eager to read ALONG THE INFINITE SEA again.
The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives
and A Certain Age creates a dazzling epic of World War
II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most
infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of
Windsor.
The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph
arrives in the Bahamas to investigate the Governor and
his wife for a New York society magazine. After all,
American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of
the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple
whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to
its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing
backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean
paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-
gotten empires?
Or so Lulu imagines. But as she infiltrates the Duke and
Duchess’s social circle, and the powerful cabal that
controls the islands’ political and financial affairs,
she uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis
and Edward’s marriage lies an ugly—and even treasonous—
reality. In fact, Windsor-era Nassau seethes with spies,
financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle
of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of
tremendous charm and murky national loyalties.
Inevitably, the willful and wounded Lulu falls in love.
Then Nassau’s wealthiest man is murdered in one of the
most notorious cases of the century, and the resulting
coverup reeks of royal privilege. Benedict Thorpe
disappears without a trace, and Lulu embarks on a journey
to London and beyond to unpick Thorpe’s complicated
family history: a fateful love affair, a wartime tragedy,
and a mother from whom all joy is stolen.
The stories of two unforgettable women thread together in
this extraordinary epic of espionage, sacrifice, human
love, and human courage, set against a shocking true
crime . . . and the rise and fall of a legendary royal
couple.
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