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That Woman

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That Woman

By: Anne Sebba
Narrated by: Samantha Bond
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About this listen

One of Britain's most distinguished biographers turns her focus on one of the most vilified woman of the last century. Historian Anne Sebba has written the first full biography of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, by a woman which attempts to understand this fascinating and enigmatic American divorcee who nearly became Queen of England. 'That woman', as she was referred to by the Queen Mother, became a hate figure for allegedly ensnaring a British king. Born in 1895 in Baltimore, Bessiewallis Warfield endured an impoverished and comparatively obscure childhood which inflamed a burning desire to rise above her circumstances.

©2011 Anne Sebba (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Ltd Entertainment & Celebrities Europe Great Britain Politics & Activism Royalty Women Celebrity Inspiring England

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All stars
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I found the story fascinating and it certainly made me realise how little I knew of her life, other than the oft repeated salacious stories.

Thought provoking

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This was a fascinating read. I knew the basic story of the abdication and I had some idea of what Edward and Wallis were like from other sources, especially their dubious political affiliations, However, what comes over in this book is quite how pathetic and vile both Edward and Wallis really were, he with his baby talk to Wallis (and the dogs according to later chapters in the book) and his obsession with that woman, her with her desperation to get out of her relationship with him, but liking all the things he could give her too much to really get out. If two people deserved the shallow, empty lives they lived after the abdication, they certainly did. I started the book wanting to like Wallis, wanting to see her as the real victim of the abdication, the woman who had been vilified by the world for stealing a King, only to spend her life with an obsessive fool who wouldn’t let go. Though I still think Edward was an obsessive fool, a ridiculous man with absolutely no backbone or thought for other people, I now also see how shallow, selfish and hateful Wallis was. Neither of them have any redeeming features at all. Neither was attractive, far from the matinee idol image he’s had, looking at pictures, I think he looked old by the time he was 40, and she was distinctly masculine in her appearance. Neither had any real intelligence or personality. They must have been a nightmare at dinner parties. Listening to a book about two people who were equally ghastly wasn’t easy, in fact it was a struggle at times, but at the same time their story is strangely fascinating. If it was a fictional story you’d hope that in the end their characters would reform and they would become complete people, but reality isn’t like that. They died as they had lived, shallow, weak, pathetic and unlikeable. My advice to other listeners is to stick with it, if only because Samantha Bond reads it well.

A fascinating story of two pathetic people

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I found this book fascinating to listen to ….
Even so much I knew there were so many new things which suddenly made sense and give the whole story a new meaning…
Well written and well narrated-
Highly recommendable…

So many new insights…

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I couldn't put it down. This reads more like a novel than a biography, except it contains a wealth of detail about the young Wallis. There are no holds barred, Wallis Simpson is not whitewashed in this book, but I think it's almost impossible to finish it without a great deal of sympathy for her. To a large extent trapped in her own time,and subject to the mores and limitations of what was expected of a woman in the early part of the twentieth century, she navigates with ambition and style to the top of the tree, and then finds herself trapped.

Totally absorbing!

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I didn't learn anything new about the appalling D and D of Windsor. And my opinion of them both is unaltered. But thank God she did what she did because without her ensnarement of Edward the British people would soon have been under the Nazi jackboot.

Nothing new here

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The biographer has really done an excellent job and has written an objective account of the life of Wallis Simpson and indirectly she has revealed a great deal about Edward, the Duke of Windsor. Wallis seems to have spent her life shopping and having dinner parties and dieting. All this against a background of one of the most troubled periods of history in the twentieth century. Indeed it is the history in the background and incidentally other historical figures such as Wilson Churchill which make the story so interesting.
She seems to have imagined that having identified ancestors going back to William the Conqueror gave her some kind of superiority. The Duke comes across as a spoilt brat who never reached adult age. To think that he would have interrupted the recital of Arthur Rubenstein, (who for me is one of the greatest piano virtuosos of all time) making it clear he had had enough really disgusted me.
The most curious part of the book concerns Wallis' possible syndrome. Male or female? The discussion of her sexual hold over the Duke seems more like heresay and gossip rather than real facts. The author informs but does not make any claims.
I admire the biographer's art as I think I probably would have written a very one-sided and damning story! The narrator is excellent.
Whether you are an admirer or a detractor of 'Wally', I'm sure you will enjoy this read.

Excellent biography in spite of insipid subject!

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A compelling download, well read and very interesting. The author doesn't champion WS, nor attack her, so the general neutrality makes it even more enjoyable. I was ready to dislike WS, I suppose - and at the end of the book I did dislike her quite a lot, but I certainly felt I understood more about what drove this extraordinary woman. I also felt great pity for her and Edward who seems to have been weak, deluded and baffled. The international turmoil that served as the backdrop to this bizarre story is very well woven. Living history.

One weak point (not weak enough to lose a star though) was a persistent theory advanced by the author about the sexuality of WS. The author believes - but presents no actual evidence for this - that WS was born with both male and female sexual characteristics. There is no proof, so it's nothing more than an interesting but probably flawed theory.

Compelling

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Of course we all think we know about Mrs Simpson and the abdication but this finely researched biography expands on Wallis’s upbringing and earlier marriages to paint a complex figure and not wholly unsympathetic character. Samantha Bond brings Wallis to life with drawling quotes and an animated delivery of detailed facts about her circumstances and her circling of Edward VIII. Ensnared in exile, the section about their wartime governance of the Bahamas is particularly enlightening. If you enjoys this then there is an expansion of the Windsor’s time on the Riviera in Anne de Courcy’s Chanel’s Riviera and this itself overlaps nicely with Anne Sebba’s Les Parisiennes for a picture of life in Occupied France.

Detailed dramatic life story with fantastic narration by Samantha Bond

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Much of the story of the supposed love story is familiar not least because of the excellent TV series starring Edward Fox, though I did learn much about the couple’s war years spent largely in the Bahamas and their post-war life. I knew nothing about Mrs Simpson’s early life which give a clue to her need for financial security and perpetual health problems.

If the biography is to be believed the Windsor’s relationship was far from being a true love story as Wallis appears lukewarm in her feelings for Edward while he was obsessively dependent and worshipping of her, constantly trying to please her with lavish jewels and money. I come away with the impression that Mrs Simpson enjoyed the thrill of enrapturing men, particularly successful or powerful men, and was flattered by the attention of the heir to the British throne with his glamorous image, but that she had probably only wanted an exciting dalliance. I hadn’t known how she kept up an affectionate correspondence with her former second husband long into her marriage to Edward.

The author tells a compelling story and isn’t partisan but the facts speak for themselves and leave me feeling that the UK had a lucky escape from having Edward as King, though, not because he wanted to marry a divorced woman, but because he lacked judgement and despite his voiced sympathy for the poor lived a lavish life-style when people in the UK and Europe were suffering hardship. He seemed obsessed in wanting the trappings and titles of being a king without the responsibilities and perpetually complained about not being given enough money to fund the couple’s ostentatious life-style.

My only criticisms of the book are the excess of prurient speculations about Wallis’s true gender and the couples’ sex life for which no concrete evidence exists and salacious interpretations of her various hospitalisations where lack of information is more likely owed to a wish for privacy rather than a cover-up.

Overall an enjoyable listen about a pivotal time in history.

Samantha Bond has a lovely voice and I enjoyed her narration.

Compelling, unflattering account of the Windsors

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Beautiful read. Very interesting and fullif unknown historical facts . Still can't say I have any sympathy for Wallis or the fate that befell them.

Very well read

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