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The Darkness of Wallis Simpson | 
| Author: Rose Tremain
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £2.96
You Save: £5.03 (63%)
New (22) Used (11) from £1.46
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 63165
Media: Paperback
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0099268566
EAN: 9780099268567
ASIN: 0099268566
Publication Date: September 21, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Short story collection of variable quality June 9, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I would place myself somewhere between the other three reviewers of this. I actually found the headline Wallis Simpson story disappointingly turgid, whereas I really liked some of the others - eg the second story about a German soldier who comes to a chilly end, and another about an elderly American who seeks to retrace the steps of a failed love affair.
But maybe this is always the way with short story collections - a bit hit-and-miss. But Rose Tremain has a very sharp eye for the hidden, quirky corners of life, and I recommend this book.
 One of the finest contemporary writers I have ever read! April 2, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Please ignore the two previous reviewers who obviously bought the book hoping to read something sensational about Wallis Simpson. Rose Tremain is a remarkable writer, and this collection of short stories is nothing less than brilliant. I savoured every word! If you have an appreciation for literature, particularly the craft of the short story writer, then you will not be disappointed, I can assure you. This woman has added so many bricks to the house, surely a little village must be standing somewhere all of her own making.
Misleading March 11, 2008
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
I was extremely disappointed to realise after (what I thought was) the first chapter, that rather than being a fictionalised account of the end of life of the Duchess of Windsor in the form of a novel, this is a collection of short stories. There is very little on the site or indeed on the cover of the book itself to indicate that this is the case. I do not wish to discuss the merits of the book as I have only read the first story so far. I merely wish to advise other potential buyers that this is not a novel.
 The daftness of Rose Tremain January 9, 2008
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Somebody paid Rose Tremain good money to write this stuff. A pity she didn't bother to do a scrap of meaningful research into the life and eventual death at the age of 89 of one of the world's most remarkable and privacy-conscious women.
The resulting febrile product of Tremain's imagination is like vandalising a Rembrandt or a Picasso by the sticking a piece of discarded chewing gum on a great master for the want of finding an approproate dustbin.
Spinning a tacky film-noire fantasy about the dying diva's last years belittles and falsifies what is arguably the most extraordinary love story of the 20th century.
How very New Labour.
Wallis died surrounded by her loving family despite fourteen years of bereaved widowhood. The story of those fourteen years is the untold masterpiece of modern history.
Fortunately Wallis's and the Duke of Windsor's sole legal heir is the copyright owner of the only authorised biography of the lady.
The day that is published - and December 2008 is now confidently projected for the UK and US editions - will be the day of the irrevocable downfall of the House of Windsor as we know it.
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