“Another Woman's Husband” by Gill Paul – A Tragic Spotlight for Women

Gill Paul's Tale of Betrayal and Friendship

Princess Diana is one of the few figures in modern history found fascinating all around the globe. Today, what most people remember about the woman is her tragic ending as well as the controversy surrounding it... even to this day the question hangs in the air as to what really happened in that car crash, and how accidental it was in the first place.

Nevertheless, it seems her eventful death overshadowed her even more remarkable life, one which lends itself to works of historical fiction such as Another Woman's Husband by Gill Paul. Though not directly centred on the famous figure herself, it does present a compelling portrayal of two very special women in history and a stab at lay beneath a scandal which shook the whole world up.

The premise of the book is pretty simple, telling us two stories simultaneously. One begins in 1911 during summer camp, when a bond of friendship is forged between two fifteen-year-old girls, Mary Kirk and Wallis Warfield. We witness them navigating the perilous waters of their companionship, shaped by difficult decisions, the British Crown, and a betrayal which might never see forgiveness.

The second story jumps almost ninety years into the future, and presents us with a woman named Rachel, on a romantic break in Paris with her fiance. However, things turn to tragedy pretty quickly as a car on the road ahead of them violently crashes... a car carrying Princess Diana.

Though back in Brighton, Rachel can't get the accident out of her head and feels an intense desire to try and piece it all together. Thus she forges on to long-forgotten links from the past, starting with Princess Diana's last-visited person before the crash: Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. In the process, she gets closer than most people can dream to the truth behind the scandal which resulted in King Edward's eventual abdication.

Dusting Off Old Icons

As far as iconic figures in history go, Wallis Simpson and Princess Diana do have their place, even if it does seem relegated mostly to the shadows. I was quite glad to see someone willing to shed light not only on their defining moments, but also on the road they've walked which led them to this point, especially the former.

Though I may be wrong, I believe very few, if any notable publications have actually delved into the woman's childhood and life before she married the King of England, which is shame considering there is just as much to talk about there, especially when it comes to the ultimately strange friendship forged with Mary Kirk.

While I will admit their story did feel a bit cheesy at times, I would wager it nearly-impossible to remove this element from a friendship between two fifteen-year-old girls.

It might be a work of fiction, but the author has without a doubt done her fair share of research, digging around in all the old documents she could possibly muster. The details about Wallis and Diana just keep pouring in as you flip the pages, with the author trying to paint as complete a picture as possible of both women, showing not only what they had to go through, but also who they were as people.

While I was afraid it would end up reading like a dry history book, we never get the impression we're being force-fed information with little relevance to what's at hand. On the contrary, all the little facts and details are woven seamlessly into the story, to the point where we can easily forget we're actually learning something as we progress through the plot.

A Mystery for the Ages

At first sight it might seem like the two stories, set in 1911 and 1997, have few things to connect them save for some of the characters themselves.

However, as we progress through both plots, Gill Paul slowly brings closer together the threads which bind them, solving a puzzle stretched across many decades, rooted deeper than I could possibly imagine. Both of the stories have their own charm and atmosphere, with the first one being a coming-of-age tale eventually leading to heartbreak, scandal and betrayal, while the second story is written more in the tone of a historical mystery.

Moving from one to the other is seldom difficult or confusing, a quality I namely attribute to the amount of effort the author has put into writing a historical piece.

This is another aspect of the book I'd like to bring attention to: the historical accuracy. Paul has taken great care in excruciatingly recreating the world as it was over a hundred years ago, detailing every single thing she could imagine.

We are easily transported back from the modern age into the world of 1920s Jazz and British Crown intrigue over and over again, giving passing mentions to some of the more remarkable events in time, such as the sinking of the Titanic or Richard Burton's famous on-set affair while filming Cleopatra . As such, a few parts of the book even end up feeling like an old movie reel, a capsule containing a very special time we may never resurrect again.

Through her historical excursion, the author also attempts to explain to the best of her abilities the great scandal which led to King Edward VIII's abdication amidst a constitutional crisis. Personally-speaking, I had no idea about the story behind the whole event and how much his marriage to Wallis changed the political landscape in Great Britain. The event in particular is illustrated with immense care and profound knowledge, and I believe this book can serve as a reliably entertaining source of education on the matter.

The Final Verdict

All in all, Another Woman's Husband is a fantastic work of historical fiction focused largely on facts and research. While some of it came from the realm of imagination, much of what we learn about Princess Diana and Wallis Simpson stems from the author's tireless digging through historical documents.

I believe few, if any books out there exist which detail these women's complicated lives and how they impacted history, all formatted in an entertaining story with two concurrent plotlines. I can safely say fans of historical fiction and those curious about Princess Diana and/or Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, will gain massive enjoyment from reading this book.

Gill Paul Personal site Gill Paul is a British writer from Glasgow known for dabbling in both fiction and non-fiction. Most prominently, she is the author of the Titanic Love Stories (based on the tale of an actual couple on the ship), The Affair and The Secret Wife. She mostly looks forward to writing romance stories in grand historical settings, such as WWI for example.