A review by pturnbull
The Windsor Faction by D.J. Taylor

4.0

The premise of this novel is that Wallis Simpson died in an operation and there was no abdication. With King Edward VIII seemingly receptive to a peaceful resolution with Germany, the environment is set for serious skullduggery among Britain's anti-Semites and others looking to advance themselves in the event of a new order. I admit that I almost bailed on this one--it's bewildering at first, without a single major character emerging or a consistent point of view to follow. The demise of Mrs. Simpson is described through news articles and overheard conversations. Then the scene shifts to Ceylon, where we meet a bland and passive young woman who ends up having a traumatic experience. We are then privy to the diary of Beverley Nichols, a gay garden writer and socialite based on a true person. Things get much more amusing when narrated by Mr. Nichols, though he also has a role in pushing the plot forward. The book appropriately uses plot elements straight out of pre-war spy thrillers, but on the whole it is a complicated literary novel, told from multiple points of view, and including numerous characters taken from history, such as Captain Archibald Ramsay and Tyler Kent.

Characters such as Mr. Nichols or Desmond, the editor of a Bloomsbury literacy magazine, seem almost comically self-delusional, to the extent that at first I wondered if one or more was included just to lighten things up, but no, these characters participate seriously in the novel's unfolding plot. One scene--a fundraising party for the struggling magazine--appears at first broadly drawn and satirical, but then events occur that delineate exactly how vulnerable some of the population was in those days.

This novel is worth sticking with and the pace does quicken. I'm glad I discovered it at the public library.