There's nothing like reading a juicy biography–the perfect book club choice, because they provide purposeful gossip about someone's life, oxymoronic as that is. This week, the Sunday Arts Section (SAS) Book Club features That Woman, The Life of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, by Anne Sebba. That Woman is the spellbinding story of the British king, Edward VIII, who abdicated his throne for a twice-divorced American woman, Wallis Simpson.Sebba, who earned a history degree at King's College, London, before working as a journalist for Reuters, presents a puzzling, often incredible story of the king and Simpson's relationship.
Sebba argues that Simpson was not a female, genetically speaking. She was somewhere between the two genders and this made her assert her femininity in a compulsive manner. There is no medical evidence of Simpson's alleged sexual ambivalence. Sebba attempts to build a case anecdotally by quoting a litany of friends and acquaintances, who describe Simpson's oversized hands, flat chest and masculine facial features as proof for Sebba's case. She even argues that Simpson's ambivalent sexuality prompted her to shorten her name from Bessie Wallis to Wallis, a more androgynous name that succeeded in creating an air of mystique for a very ordinary person who passed herself off as having an exciting life. Then there is the fact that Wallis never had children.
In reality, Simpson struggled to survive while growing up. Her mother seemed clueless after her father died. An uncle controlled her education. Simpson's first marriage ended in disaster because her husband was a verbally and physically abusive alcoholic brute, but her second husband exhibited an acute case of too much trust and support. He turned his back, for the most part, while Simpson cavorted with Edward, who was then the Prince of Wales, and suffered through an embarrassing divorce when Edward insisted on marrying his wife.For any discerning reader, Sebba's far-fetched speculations would be enough to question the validity of the biography. There's nothing much that can be relied on but the facts and the personal letters the couple shared during the course of their tumultuous relationship, but the author uses fascinating, titillating anecdotes to excite and even shock the reader into sticking with the story.
One of my favourite anecdotes captures Simpson in a tirade of self-pity. A grumbling Simpson anxiously waits to join Edward in the Viennese castle where he suffers silently in self-imposed exile while knitting her a sweater.None of the faults of this biography detract from this mesmerising tale, which is difficult to categorise as a "love story". Clearly Edward suffered from an acute fascination withSimpson. She kept him entertained; she kept him on his toes. Simpson received expensive jewels, but it's difficult to argue that she ultimately received the security she craved. She did not relish the thought of going down in history as a villain. Their relationship was a grand collision of emotions, and this is why That Woman is a biography that is impossible to put down.Joins us on the SAS Book Club Facebook group to discuss That Woman and what you're reading.
