
The Woman Before Wallis
A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal
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Narrated by:
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Mary Jane Wells
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By:
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Bryn Turnbull
About this listen
“Brimming with scandal and an equal amount of heart...a sweeping yet intimate look at the lives of some of history’s most notorious figures from Vanderbilts to the Prince of Wales.... A must-read.” (Chanel Cleeton, New York Times best-selling author of When We Left Cuba and Next Year in Havana)
“Bryn Turnbull takes a story we think we know and turns it on its head, with captivating results.... A beautifully written, meticulously researched and altogether memorable debut.” (Jennifer Robson, USA Today best-selling author of The Gown)
For fans of The Paris Wife and The Crown, this stunning novel tells the true story of the American divorcée who captured Prince Edward’s heart before he abdicated his throne for Wallis Simpson.
In the summer of 1926, when Thelma Morgan marries Viscount Duke Furness after a whirlwind romance, she’s immersed in a gilded world of extraordinary wealth and privilege. For Thelma, the daughter of an American diplomat, her new life as a member of the British aristocracy is like a fairy tale - even more so when her husband introduces her to Edward, prince of Wales.
In a twist of fate, her marriage to Duke leads her to fall headlong into a love affair with Edward. But happiness is fleeting, and their love is threatened when Thelma’s sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, becomes embroiled in a scandal with far-reaching implications. As Thelma sails to New York to support Gloria, she leaves Edward in the hands of her trusted friend Wallis, never imagining the consequences that will follow.
Bryn Turnbull takes listeners from the raucous glamour of the Paris Ritz and the French Riviera to the quiet, private corners of St. James’ Palace in this sweeping story of love, loyalty, and betrayal.
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Story
Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the fifth Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact.
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Horrible Reading
- By Teddy hall on 03-27-20
By: Anne Glenconner
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The Last Grand Duchess
- A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution
- By: Bryn Turnbull
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for her and her three sisters: hiding from the world on account of their mother’s ill health, their brother Alexei’s secret affliction, and rising controversy over Father Grigori Rasputin, the priest on whom the tsarina has come to rely.
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Crying like a baby
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-23
By: Bryn Turnbull
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All the Ways We Said Goodbye
- A Novel of the Ritz Paris
- By: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
- Narrated by: Helen Sadler, Nicola Barber, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel. The heiress...the Resistance fighter...the widow...three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel.
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Too Many Cooks in this Kitchen
- By Eve453 on 02-15-20
By: Beatriz Williams, and others
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The Lost Vintage
- A Novel
- By: Ann Mah
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Sweetbitter meets The Nightingale in this pause-resisting novel about a woman who returns to her family’s ancestral vineyard in Burgundy and unexpectedly uncovers a lost diary, an unknown relative, and a secret her family has been keeping since World War II. To become one of only a few hundred certified wine experts in the world, Kate must pass the notoriously difficult Master of Wine examination. She’s failed twice before; her third attempt will be her last chance.
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Returned due to narration
- By Yvonne on 12-16-18
By: Ann Mah
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The Paris Deception
- By: Bryn Turnbull
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Sophie Dix fled Stuttgart with her brother as the Nazi regime gained power in Germany. Now, with her brother gone and her adopted home city of Paris conquered by the Reich, Sophie reluctantly accepts a position restoring damaged art at the Jeu de Paume museum under the supervision of the ERR—a German art commission using the museum as a repository for art they’ve looted from Jewish families.
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Fascinating Page Turner with Heart
- By Syd Young on 06-03-23
By: Bryn Turnbull
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Midnight Blue
- A Novel
- By: Simone van der Vlugt
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Following the sudden death of her husband, 25-year-old Catrin leaves her small village and takes a job as a housekeeper to the successful Van Nulandt merchant family. Amsterdam is a city at the peak of its powers: Science and art are flourishing in the Golden Age, and Dutch ships bring back exotic riches from the Far East. Madam Van Nulandt passes her time taking expensive painting lessons from a local master, Rembrandt van Rigin....
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Beach or trip read
- By CSL on 07-17-23
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The Riviera House
- By: Natasha Lester
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again?
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Intriguing story
- By Kristen on 10-11-21
By: Natasha Lester
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Band of Sisters
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Willig
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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A group of young women from Smith College risk their lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel based on a true story - a skillful blend of Call the Midwife and The Alice Network - from New York Times best-selling author Lauren Willig.
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Interesting history
- By Ru on 07-13-21
By: Lauren Willig
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Blood, Fire & Gold
- The Story of Elizabeth I & Catherine de Medici
- By: Estelle Paranque
- Narrated by: Anna Wilson-Jones
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteenth-century Europe was a hostile world dominated by court politics and patriarchal structures–and yet against all odds, two women rose to power: Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. Much has been written about these shrewd and strategic sovereigns, but though their l legacies have been heavily scrutinized, nothing has been said of their complicated relationship—thirty years of camaraderie, competition, and conflict that forever changed the face of Europe.
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Wonderful!
- By FlowerTraveler on 05-12-23
By: Estelle Paranque
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The Home for Unwanted Girls
- By: Joanna Goodman
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility - much like Maggie Hughes' parents. Maggie's English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don't include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie's heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at 15, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life "back on track".
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I couldn't finish this book
- By CindyL on 10-08-18
By: Joanna Goodman
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The Dress in the Window
- A Novel
- By: Sofia Grant
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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World War II has ended, and American women are shedding their old clothes for the gorgeous new styles. Voluminous layers of taffeta and tulle, wasp waists, and beautiful color - all so welcome after years of sensible styles and strict rationing. Jeanne Brink and her sister, Peggy, both had to weather every tragedy the war had to offer - Peggy now a widowed mother, Jeanne without the fiancé she'd counted on, both living with Peggy's mother-in-law in a grim mill town.
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Absolutely recommend it to anyone into sewing
- By Lomeraniel on 10-21-17
By: Sofia Grant
Beautifully Written
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Eye opening!
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A surprisingly good find.
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The Prince of Whales lovers
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l ways know a good book if you read it more than once.
Good one
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Surprisingly Good
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Outstanding
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Vanderbilt and Royal Families. Royal in all respects
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Excellent
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Great story!
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