A bolter, as readers of the novels of Nancy Mitford know, refers not to a horse, but rather an unconventional (or wicked) woman who leaves her husband(s). And the most infamous bolter of the 1920s and 1930s was Idina Sackville (1893-1955), author Frances Osborne’s great-grandmother. Idina seemed ... [Continue Reading]
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor by Tina Brown
The Palace Papers by Tina Brown is the latest in a long line of royal reveals and covers the Windsor clan post-Diana. (For the Diana Spencer saga, see Tina’s earlier book The Diana Chronicles.) Master of the quip, the ultimate insider (CBE/Commander of the British Empire), and a competent ... [Continue Reading]
George V, Never a Dull Moment by Jane Ridley
George V (1865-1936), grandfather of the current Queen, was not one of England’s liveliest monarchs; he collected stamps. (Apologies to philatelists everywhere.) Tommy Lascelles, an astute royal advisor (played brilliantly in The Crown by Phillip Torrens), said of George V, “He was dull, beyond ... [Continue Reading]
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
I love it when a novel inspires me to conduct extra research, and in The Weight of Ink there was plenty of material which demanded further investigation, like The Great Plague of London, Spinoza, and Shakespeare’s Dark Lady. Now you may prefer to read a book that requires no additional effort on ... [Continue Reading]
The Confidence Men by Margalit Fox
It all started with a homemade Ouija board. In an isolated WW I prisoner-of-war camp in Yozgad, Central Anatolia, British prisoner Harry Jones, a lawyer by training, alleviated the tedium of captivity by experimenting with a Ouija board. This exercise in spiritualism ultimately led to a ... [Continue Reading]
The Churchill Sisters by Rachel Trethewey
Without question, Winston Churchill was one of the great statesmen of the 20thC, but as a parent, less great. This is somewhat understandable as his own parents set a lousy example. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a harsh man and often unkind to his son. Winston’s mother, the lovely Jennie ... [Continue Reading]
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
How could I resist a book with such an unusual title set on an island about which I know nothing (cows, right?) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a charming novel of 1946 London and Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. London based writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a ... [Continue Reading]
Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown
If you are a fan of The Crown and enjoy Royal gossip, I recommend Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, which for lack of a better description, is an unconventional biography. Brown has assembled in no particular order ninety-nine vignettes of the controversial princess taken from ... [Continue Reading]
The Crown in Crisis, Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander Larman
I was disappointed in The Crown in Crisis, Countdown to the Abdication, a day-by-day account of the last month of King Edward VIII’s reign. The author claims to have unearthed unseen archival material and interviews about the crisis in which the king renounces the throne for the woman he loves, the ... [Continue Reading]
Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner
For Fans of The Crown Anne Glenconner had an idyllic childhood. In her memoir, Lady in Waiting, she describes growing up at Holkham, the 27,000-acre estate of her father, the 5th Earl of Leicester. Her boon companions were the Princess Elizabeth and the Princess Margaret. There were Christmases ... [Continue Reading]