Kate Auspitz
Autor(a) de The War Memoirs Of Hrh Wallis Duchess Of Windsor
3 Works 68 Membros 15 Críticas 4 Favorited
About the Author
Inclui os nomes: kateauspitz, Kate Auspitz
Image credit: photo by Jennifer Hudson
Obras por Kate Auspitz
Etiquetado
2010 Book (1)
250 Book challenge (2010) (1)
@1 (1)
@1e (1)
a ler (1)
Amazon wish list 08-17-15 (1)
April - May 2010 (1)
ARC (3)
Biografia (5)
Biography - royalty (1)
bonus batch (1)
British fiction (1)
Britânico (1)
Early Reviewers (4)
Early Reviewers (2010) (1)
Ficção (11)
Ficção histórica (11)
história (2)
Inglaterra (2)
lista de desejos (3)
Literatura dos Estados Unidos (1)
LT ER (1)
Memórias (3)
Nook (1)
Novels & Novellas (1)
Overdrive (1)
Queen Elizabeth (1)
READ 2014 and Prior (1)
read in 2010 (1)
read in 2018 (1)
Realeza (2)
rec by torontoc (1)
Reviewed (2010) (1)
Riviera (1)
royals (1)
Segunda Guerra Mundial (9)
spy fiction (1)
Wallis, Duquesa de Windsor (3)
WallisSimpson (1)
WBI (1)
Conhecimento Comum
- Data de nascimento
- 20th Century
- Sexo
- female
- Nacionalidade
- USA
- Locais de residência
- Boston area
- Educação
- Harvard University (PhD ∙ Government)
Oxford University - Ocupações
- political historian
teacher - Agente
- Caroline Dawnay (United Agents)
Membros
Críticas
1
Assinalado
katylit | 14 outras críticas | Jul 25, 2010 | Esta crítica foi escrita no âmbito dos Primeiros Críticos do LibraryThing.
What if the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, had been carefully manoeuvred into position by key men in power in England (as well as France, Italy and the US) in order to take Edward off of the throne because he would have been incapable of handling an impending war with Germany? What if, rather than being simply a calculating courtesan who set her cap with the hope of exchanging it for a crown, she was also a somewhat unwitting knight in a carefully calculated zugzwang to remove Edward as king, with his Nazi sympathies, pronounced racist tendencies and unfortunate stupidity? Here is the basic premise of “The War Memoir of (HRH) Wallis, Duchess of Windsor” by Kate Auspitz and for this reader, she really made it work.
Having read about characters like Duff Gordon, Lindbergh, Somerset Maugham in other histories (particularly in books about the Mitfords, as well as their letters), it was fascinating to see Auspitz’s take on the role these men performed prior to and during WWII. The author’s knowledge of politics and history has served her well in this work of fiction, as she seemingly effortlessly ties in the events and facts of both in this period, making it all seem not only plausible but probable. I particularly enjoyed her making mincemeat out of Lindbergh.
Auspitz doesn’t attempt to whitewash Simpson: she is shallow, vain, sadly under-educated, very sexual and desperately ambitious. But she does engender our sympathy by the end of the book for a woman who ended up trapped in a marriage with a man who was impotent, not very bright nor particularly manly - definitely not the man a woman like Wallis really needed. That he adored her could not redress this imbalance in the end, no matter how many jewels he gave her. I remember seeing an interview many years ago with the Windsors in their Paris home: the Duke said something along the lines of ‘we’ve had a good go at it, haven’t we, darling’ and looked beseechingly at Wallis for confirmation. She didn’t reply, just smiled like a sphinx. I remember thinking at the time that she didn’t particularly think so. Auspitz’s story takes that impression a tantalising step further: is it possible her premise could be true? I haven’t got a clue but it was fascinating fun to think about it in this clever book.… (mais)
Having read about characters like Duff Gordon, Lindbergh, Somerset Maugham in other histories (particularly in books about the Mitfords, as well as their letters), it was fascinating to see Auspitz’s take on the role these men performed prior to and during WWII. The author’s knowledge of politics and history has served her well in this work of fiction, as she seemingly effortlessly ties in the events and facts of both in this period, making it all seem not only plausible but probable. I particularly enjoyed her making mincemeat out of Lindbergh.
Auspitz doesn’t attempt to whitewash Simpson: she is shallow, vain, sadly under-educated, very sexual and desperately ambitious. But she does engender our sympathy by the end of the book for a woman who ended up trapped in a marriage with a man who was impotent, not very bright nor particularly manly - definitely not the man a woman like Wallis really needed. That he adored her could not redress this imbalance in the end, no matter how many jewels he gave her. I remember seeing an interview many years ago with the Windsors in their Paris home: the Duke said something along the lines of ‘we’ve had a good go at it, haven’t we, darling’ and looked beseechingly at Wallis for confirmation. She didn’t reply, just smiled like a sphinx. I remember thinking at the time that she didn’t particularly think so. Auspitz’s story takes that impression a tantalising step further: is it possible her premise could be true? I haven’t got a clue but it was fascinating fun to think about it in this clever book.… (mais)
18
Assinalado
tiffin | 14 outras críticas | Jul 5, 2010 | Esta crítica foi escrita no âmbito dos Primeiros Críticos do LibraryThing.
I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected to. I found the writing somewhat disjointed and the narrative a bit difficult to follow. I'd be reading along fine and then suddenly the topic would change or a character be introduced that had no meaning or context to what was happening. Perhaps this is my fault though for not knowing enough about the history surrounding the subject of the book.
Another thing that irked me (but again, this is likely a personal dislike) were the end notes. End notes are really footnotes at the back of the book and I prefer footnotes and for them to be on the foot of the page on which they're referenced. The constant flipping back and forth was annoying, not to mention being forced to use two bookmarks, one of which had to always be holding the end notes page. Or are they not really meant to be read at all?? Granted, some of the notes would have taken up too much room on a page, but had they been done as they were in Love's Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie, which used a smaller font, I'm sure it would have been preferable (well, at least for me).
I'm giving the book a two-and-a-half star rating because, despite the annoyances mentioned, I thought it was an interesting read.… (mais)
½Another thing that irked me (but again, this is likely a personal dislike) were the end notes. End notes are really footnotes at the back of the book and I prefer footnotes and for them to be on the foot of the page on which they're referenced. The constant flipping back and forth was annoying, not to mention being forced to use two bookmarks, one of which had to always be holding the end notes page. Or are they not really meant to be read at all?? Granted, some of the notes would have taken up too much room on a page, but had they been done as they were in Love's Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie, which used a smaller font, I'm sure it would have been preferable (well, at least for me).
I'm giving the book a two-and-a-half star rating because, despite the annoyances mentioned, I thought it was an interesting read.… (mais)
1
Assinalado
Sensory | 14 outras críticas | Jul 2, 2010 | Esta crítica foi escrita no âmbito dos Primeiros Críticos do LibraryThing.
The War Memoirs of (HRH) Wallis Duchess of Windsor is a work of fiction, though the title might suggest otherwise. These are the memoirs of the Duchess as they may have been, and Kate Auspitz includes extensive footnotes to support the idea that history may have played out in this way.
In Auspitz's portrayal, the Duchess is vain, selfish and petty but nevertheless a sympathetic character, as she is made out to be a tool of the Allies. She is both manipulative herself and manipulated by the powerful men surrounding her. In this novel, there is no storybook romance between the Duchess and the Duke of Windsor. Instead, Auspitz explores the relationships between the Duchess and men such as Galeazzo Ciano, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Duff Cooper.
Readers will probably appreciate Auspitz's interpretation more if they have some familiarity with the Duchess's story and the events and people of that time period. At times, the narrative of the Duchess assumes the reader has some knowledge of the context; in these cases, the footnotes are particularly helpful.… (mais)
½In Auspitz's portrayal, the Duchess is vain, selfish and petty but nevertheless a sympathetic character, as she is made out to be a tool of the Allies. She is both manipulative herself and manipulated by the powerful men surrounding her. In this novel, there is no storybook romance between the Duchess and the Duke of Windsor. Instead, Auspitz explores the relationships between the Duchess and men such as Galeazzo Ciano, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Duff Cooper.
Readers will probably appreciate Auspitz's interpretation more if they have some familiarity with the Duchess's story and the events and people of that time period. At times, the narrative of the Duchess assumes the reader has some knowledge of the context; in these cases, the footnotes are particularly helpful.… (mais)
2
Assinalado
mathgirl40 | 14 outras críticas | Jun 26, 2010 | Estatísticas
- Obras
- 3
- Membros
- 68
- Popularidade
- #253,411
- Avaliação
- 4.1
- Críticas
- 15
- ISBN
- 7
- Marcado como favorito
- 4
The War Memoir of (HRH) Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (as she so desired to be called) is a fascinating account, however fictional, of a dramatic, terrible point in our history, from a very unique perspective and I enjoyed it tremendously.… (mais)