War is a brutal black hole that rips families apart, separating children from their mothers, husbands from their wives, and lovers from their secrets.

What more compelling setting for a magazine feature than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires? The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives and A Certain Age creates a dazzling epic of World War II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Another aspect I found to be done well was the school being aware of Manuel’s needs but the respect for his privacy also leading to certain staff members being unaware and responding to Manuel in ways that are harmful (such as confiscating his phone, which he uses as an anchor, because his use of it was breaking classroom policies but removing it was also triggering a panic attack). But as she infiltrates the Duke and Duchess’s social circle, and the powerful cabal that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs, she uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis and Edward’s marriage lies a complex—and even treasonous—reality.Elfriede thinks she should probably have said yes, because tobacco smoke is possibly the last substance on earth that should fill the passages of Mr. With her trademark skill, the author adeptly draws the threads of the two story lines together, culminating in a surprising, emotionally satisfying conclusion. All the characters are compelling and unforgettable, which is something that I love when reading a book.

I love Beatriz Williams and many of her books have become some of my favorite historical fiction novels. The Duke of Windsor, having abdicated the English throne, was Nassau's governor from 1940 to 1945, and during these years, the city was rife with greed, racial tension, and murder.The duke—as governor of this island paradise with a dark side—and the duchess are portrayed as sometimes helping, but often contributing to, its problems of social inequality, racial tension, and corruption; they could also be complicit in the murder of gold mine owner Harry Oakes, and there are whispers of their Nazi sympathies. The other reason is because I’m fascinated with anything to do with the very intriguing Duchess of Windsor, less so the Duke, and they are minor characters in the novel, with one of the main narratives of the story weaving around their lives. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. Elfriede is sent to a Swiss clinic because she is struggling with a darkness in her sole after the birth of her child, a/k/a postpartum depression. This is a beautiful book, showing the power of friendships (with his classmates Sebastian and Caysha).

Paralleling this is the story of Lulu, which takes place primarily in the Bahamas at the start of World War II. B. The pov changes also include first person and third person different narratives; it works to keep the two women drivers of their own stories but I can see how this could affect the flow of the story for some. The Bahamas, 1941: Newly-widowed Lulu Randolph arrives in Nassau to investigate the new Governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. A marriage, a murder, and a disappearance sets Lulu’s story off in a new direction regarding secrets, government spies and a slight nod of deception.

But the link between The Golden Hour's settings — the Bahamas and London during World War II and Switzerland and Germany 40 years earlier — is all about the men. During the early 1900’s however, her doctors had no idea this ailment existed, so Elfriede was there for two years when we meet her. Throughout the novel, the relationships of these two women and their Thorpe men follow similar ups and downs, while remaining distinct stories. His days are a lonely, latchkey monotony until he’s teamed with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project.