I’ll See You in Paris is loosely based on the life of Gladys Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (née Gladys Deacon; Feb. 7, 1881 ~ Oct. 13, 1977). A bit of background: Gladys was born in France into a wealthy, but eccentric American family. When she was a child, her father killed her mother’s lover. Her father spent a few years in prison, but when he got out, he was given custody of his children.
As an adult, Gladys travelled in an artistic social circle and encountered many major authors and artist of the time. She became close friends with Consuelo Vanderbilt, who was married to the 9th Duke of Marlborough. Theirs was an unhappy marriage. Gladys became the Duke’s mistress. It was a happy arrangement for decades. When Consuelo and the Duke divorced, Gladys and the Duke married, making Gladys the Duchess of Marlborough.
In her later life, the Duchess became a recluse. She lived in a small village in England with a host of cats and dogs. She was known to threaten visitors with firearms.
This is where the novel begins. The novel goes back and forth in time and we slowly learn about Gladys’s life. The novel begins in 2001 with Annie Haley, a young woman newly engage to a marine who has been shipped to Afghanistan. Annie was raised by her single mother, Laurel. Annie never knew her father ~ her birth certificate lists her father as being “unknown.”
Laurel has business in England and invites Annie to accompany her. While her mother is tending to business, Annie wanders through the little village and encounters Gus, an aging aristocrat. They strike up a friendship over a book entitled The Missing Duchess. Gus knew the woman who was the subject of the book, although she adamantly denied she was the Duchess. His recounting of the Duchess brings us to the 1970s, where a young American woman named Pru was hired to be a companion to the aging Gladys.
This was a fun and quick read. The style of moving back in forth in time, while not entirely seamless, was smooth enough to keep me turning the pages. It is not necessary to know the background of Gladys Deacon to enjoy this book. While reading this book, I did a little research to see how closely the novel tracked the life of the Duchess.
Read: Oct. 28, 2019
4 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment