Abdication

England, 1936. Rumours of yet another war are gathering like storm clouds on the horizon. There is unrest at home too, as the unemployment levels continue to rise, and some see hope in the direction of the young Fuhrer of Germany. Into this situation come two outsiders, both of whom arrive unwittingly on the same day at the same port. May, a young olive-skinned woman from Barbados, is fleeing an unhappy life on her father’s sugar plantation, and joining her English cousin. And Evangeline Nettlefold, 40ish spinster, bewigged, and overweight, is coming at a two-fold request—to spend time with her English godmother, and to visit her childhood friend, Wallis Simpson.

Those of you with even a cursory knowledge of English history already know where this is going—the title alone tells you that. But what author Juliet Nicolson does in Abdication is to take us behind the scenes of the history books, to show us what life might have looked like for those playing small parts in the larger drama. She does this by mixing fictional characters with historical figures, and creating a sense of time and place that does much to add to the drama.

Overall, Nicolson has done this well. Occasionally, the book reads a bit like an article on life in 1936, where the descriptions somewhat overwhelm the plot. There are also a few bits that felt revisionist to me—for example, an attitude towards a lesbian relationship (presented briefly between two very minor characters) that seems awfully modern. And sometimes it feels crammed with coincidences. (Example: May goes on a visit to Wigan and meets Eric Blair, better known of course as George Orwell.)

May settles down and finds a job as a chauffeur and secretary to Sir Philip Blunt, husband to Evangeline’s godfather. Abdication opens with a scene in which she is delivering Evangeline to visit her friend Mrs. Simpson. May goes in to deliver a parcel and ends up meeting the young Prince of Wales herself. We are introduced to him on several occasions. His obsession with Wallis Simpson, which of course led to his abdication, is double-sided—on the one hand, the determination seems initially on the side of Wallis, but the king is equally stubborn when Wallis seems to waver.

May is always a sympathetic character, but Abdication is of two minds about Evangeline, presenting her sad childhood with empathy but then showing her constantly overeating and misunderstanding young man’s reactions to her, making her mockable and unsympathetic.

Abdication is an interesting book, giving one lots of information about life in England in 1936. It’s worth reading for that aspect alone.

Elizabeth has always been secretly glad that Edward VIII abdicated, because she thinks George VI did a much better job, and she adored the Queen Mother. Learn more of her royalist leanings at her blog Planet Nomad.