Wallis Simpson’s name has come up quite a bit lately. Of course, the recently deceased Elizabeth II would never have been Queen were it not for Wallis. There are also those who have compared Wallis with Megan Markle. Both found a man unhappy with royal life and moved him away from what had always seemed to be his destiny.

For those who would like to know more about Wallis, this title offers a good read. Morton has the ability to write biographies that read almost like novels. The pages definitely turned for me. However, readers should note that they may well leave this book not liking its subject.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

This book is an interesting read and is well written and researched. The author points out in clear detail that this was not a woman who was in love with the Duke of Windsor, but had a history of plotting and social climbing to obtain what she wanted. Unfortunately, for her, her relationship with David Windsor did not result in her becoming Queen. In many ways, her life was much less than what she had planned for herself.

I recommend this book to anyone who had an interest in the relationship between the Duke and Duchess of of Windsor focusing on the Duchess.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook and Twitter pages.

Wallis Simpson is famous for being the woman a king gave up his throne for. Her romance with King Edward VIII was known to be one of history’s greatest love stories. Their passion has fascinated so many that a slice of their wedding cake was bought for $29,000. This was made even more famous in Seinfeld when J. Peterman bought a slice of their cake for that amount. However, Mr. Morton’s biography of Wallis Simpson shows that it was not the great romance that the media has made it out to be. Instead, Mr. Morton emphasizes that Wallis had no love for Edward. Instead, she was in love with another man during her marriage to the former king.

In this biography, Wallis was not a likeable figure. Wallis was selfish, pleasure-seeking, ambitious, and ruthless. She agreed with Hitler’s ideas. She was also a social climber and loved to break up her friends’ relationships. She did not treat her two husbands’ well. When she finally became mistress to Edward, who was at the time Prince of Wales, she was ecstatic because it reached the pinnacle of her ambitions. However, when he wanted to marry her, she was hesitant to divorce her husband. She only wanted to have a fling and not be committed to him.

When she finally did take the steps to divorce her husband, her ambitions switched to becoming Queen of England. Being queen became her greatest desire. However, no one except Edward wanted her to be queen. When he abdicated the throne, Wallis's hopes were dashed. She was reluctant to marry him. She quickly realized that she had made her bed and had to lie in it. As his wife, she never showed Edward any respect. She despised him and considered him to be a pest. She ignored him and always talked down to him. Many people who knew Wallis were shocked at how she was treating a former king. She did not even make any attempts to see Edward during his final days on earth. In fact, it was not Wallis who held him on his deathbed, but an American nurse who was assigned to take care of him.

Wallis did not care about Edward. Instead, she was in love with another man. His name was Herman Rogers. Mr. Morton believed that he was the greatest love of her life. Herman was her best friend. He always gave her good advice. She relied on him whenever she needed help. Thus, it would be no surprise if she loved him as more than a friend.

Even though Wallis was not likable, Edward was equally dislikable. He was often seen as weak and needy. He acted like a child. He whines constantly and cries when Wallis does not treat him right. He always relies on Wallis’s affection. He had no ambition. He did not care about his country or his people. He hated the responsibility of being the Prince of Wales and later on King of England. He was always looking for a way to shirk his responsibility. He finally found his way out of kingship when he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson. He was so happy when he abdicated that he started singing! Edward was always the submissive one in the relationship. He liked to be manipulated and controlled. It made me wonder what Edward would have been like as a king had he stayed on his throne. After reading this book, I was so glad Edward abdicated when he did.

Overall, this was a very detailed biography on Wallis Simpson. I thought the author did an excellent job in portraying who Wallis might have been. Wallis was a complex figure, and Mr. Morton did a great job in showing it. The writing was engaging and very easy to read. I always found Wallis to be a fascinating figure, but after reading this book I came away with an intense dislike for her. After reading Wallis in Love, I can understand why they were ostracized by the royal family. Wallis and Edward were the jokes of British royalty. George VI and Queen Elizabeth were more suitable to rule. George VI knew his responsibility to his country and his people while Edward VIII did not! Wallis Simpson getting an honorable funeral after she died was more than she deserved! Even though Wallis in Love made me dislike Wallis, I’m still interested in reading a few more books on her to get a better perspective of her. I have a copy of Anne Sebba’s biography of her that I am looking to read sometime in the near future. Wallis in Love is a must-read for those not only interested in the royals but also to those who want to know the true story of one of history’s greatest romances and scandals!

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

I'm starting off this review stumped as to how to judge this work. First, there's the overall takeaway of the book. On the one hand, it screams for an academic framework--something to contextualize Wallis Simpson within her era and world. On the other hand, as a popular biography, it sticks closely to the crawling timeline of Simpson's life, focusing narrowly on her.

Second, there's the author's ruling on her. Andrew Morton, who is clearly no fan of the anti-Semitic Duke of Windsor, is nonetheless increasingly negative toward Wallis Simpson, describing her as so abusive and hostile to her partner that she was absent (and willingly so) from her partner's deathbed. (While it may indeed have been true that Wallis Simpson wasn't present when the Duke died in the middle of the night, he doesn't consider a.) that any decent staffer would have TRIED to get her, so there should be multiple sources of her declining to attend the deathbed and b.) by his own account, Wallis had her own health issues and simply may not have been physically able to get there in time.) By the end of the book, rather than illuminating an inscrutable figure, Morton's book seems to have revived and even given new life to the stereotype of Simpson as a heartless beast. (And it does seem likely that she was not a warm or particularly loving person, but it's possible to acknowledge an individual's good and bad qualities.)

That said, I do think Morton has made the case for several interesting points about Wallis Simpson: 1.) That everything post-marriage to the Duke revolved around her title, and the lack of a title made a sour point in the marriage. Would Wallis Simpson even have wanted to be with David if she'd known he wouldn't be king? One wonders. 2.) That Wallis Simpson, for whatever reason, had an incredible amount of gumption. As a woman of her time, divorcing one husband, let alone two, was certainly unusual. Between that and her willingness to travel widely (to Asia, no less), there are tempting signs here of a person who didn't fear restrictions.

One caution: I did note one incident in the text that made me rethink Morton's ability to judge his sources. He mentions that the ghostwriter for the Duke spent time with Queen Elizabeth and the young royal family, including Charles. Regrettably, he says, there are no notes of this incident. I have to call BS on this on many levels. Even if the ghostwriter *claims* this happened, Morton should have the good judgement to acknowledge that the monarchy wanted nothing to do with discussing the Windsor debacle, and would have seen selling a book on personal matters as incredibly tacky--in short, this claim should have either been investigated thoroughly and deemed questionable. (The thought of Elizabeth willingly sitting down for a chat about one of the most embarrassing moments for the modern monarchy just does not work.)

A wonderfully intimate and compelling look at a woman whose mysteries are difficult to penetrate--

Before there was reality TV, and social media influencers, and before there was television, let alone the NetFlix drama The Crown, there was Wallis Simpson. How did a down on her luck Baltimore gal create the love affair of the century? She became famous for being famous through sheer force of will.

Was she a “socially ambitious viper, who would do anything, walk over anyone, to get what she wanted?” Possibly, but after reading this people-filled saga, I’m not sure even Wallis herself knew what she wanted. She did know what she didn’t want- she didn’t want to be poor, or ordinary.

I only knew the basic story about Wallis, so for me it was fascinating to read about her early life, her marriages and then her meet-cute with the clueless Prince. I especially enjoyed reading about their life in World War II and possible Nazi sympathies. I wish I could have attended one of their dinner parties or soirées.

Andrew Morton is one of the world's best-known biographers and I highly recommend this readable and fast-paced book, crammed with interesting tidbits.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for letting me read this book.

This advance reader copy was provided by Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley.

Years ago when I still thought that Wallis Simpson and David Windsor were a match made in heaven and soulmates, it was such a romantic vision. It was very disheartening over time to learn that although the former king worshiped the ground Wallis walked on, the twice-divorced American Mrs. Simpson was just looking to become HRH queen at his side. Her whole existence revolved around elevating her social position. In the process, she sacrificed true love. It's not the rags to riches or fairytale story with a beautiful ending.

I already knew this, but chose this book to read solely on the basis of Andrew Morton authoring it. He's famous for writing the explosive tell-all "Diana: Her True Story" that set the English Monarchy on its head back in the nineties. The writing and research was more than adequate. However, my distaste for both the Duke and Duchess of Windsor was never more deep than after reading this particular biography. Wallis truly had no purpose in life other than the superficial: decorating, entertaining, socializing with the elite...and becoming the elite. The former king had no sense of duty to his country and was lacking in any depth. He abdicated his kingdom for a shallow golddigger who had no love and respect for him. All I can say is, England triumphed in the end when they both exiled to France.

This is a well researched and well written look at the life of a woman who was both admired and maligned during her lifetime. She made a huge impact on British history and it is a fascinating story to read.