A sad day for a book-lover...
I have made the executive decision to stop reading Abdication. As any book-worm knows, it is almost shameful to leave a book unfinished. I could not engage with the story (or should I say stories), and I could not engage with the characters. I didn't particularly enjoy the author's writing style or the way the plot seemed to jump from character to character and place to place. I think if the author had stuck to one story-line and focused just on that, using secondar More...

Abdication is a very enjoyable read. Juliet Nicolson weaves a beguiling story, constructing the atmosphere of 1936 England. She gives just enough description to give you a flavor of London in 1936. Best of all, her characters move across the pages with their personalities coming to life through their actions rather than narrative description. And her characters are unique individuals that involve the reader and are used by the historic figures as sounding boards to show their intentions.

May and More...

This is Juliet Nicolson's first novel after writing two works of non-fiction. As such, it certainly has some flaws, but I enjoyed it and hope she will write more.

The plot, as one might guess from the title, is built around the events of the year 1936 -- from the death of George V to the abdication of Edward VIII. May, a young woman from Barbados, arrives with her brother just before the old King dies, gets a chauffeur/secretary job with a high-level MP, and is able to observe many of the events More...

One point five stars. Why oh why did I even finish this? Friends, do NOT be pulled in by back cover advertising that uses words like vivid and absorbing, any shout out recommendations to fans of Downtown Abby or how this begs to be made into a period drama by BBC. The only way that could be successful is if they tossed out 90% of the book and came up with an actual plot and found the characters some personality and figured out some way to make you give a solitary rip about them. Oh, and come up More...

This is the worst novel I've ever finished reading. I stuck with it because the time period fascinated me and I was interested in some of the characters and thought, maybe, just maybe, the author would get her act together. Didn't happen. A magazine recommended the book to readers who like the PBS series Downton Abbey. Apparently the editors did not actually read the book.

Ms. Nicholson attempts to place several fictional characters near the inner circle of England's King Edward VIII and his gir More...

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Nicolson has a couple of non-fiction credits to her name, and she has a definite gift for exposition, but this same gift can make a novel a little too plot- and detail driven. It examines the time around Edward VIII's abdication through the perspectives of May, a young female chauffeur recently arrived from Barbados, Evangeline, a long-time friend of Wallis Simpson's, and Julian, an undergraduate and friend of the family of May's employers. The charact More...

Abdication has such wonderful descriptions of characters as well as scenes, that you can actually see the detail of each…..so many incredible words put together to make a great picture of the scene, character, or comment.

You will follow boat trips across the ocean carrying two different women from different locations but both ending in London and meeting by chance. You will meet May, Sam, Evangeline, Wallis, and other family members and friends that are weaved into a beautiful, historical story More...

I really enjoyed this novel, and can totally see how BBC will turn this into a great mini-series, as is indicated on the book cover. It centers around London, 1936, during the reign of King Edward VII. May is a young girl from Barbados, who along with her brother, are sent to England to be cared for by their aunt. May is hired as a chauffer for Sir Philip Blunt, and finds herself immersed in a subdued, if not secret side of British royalty, politics and upper class society. Other characters are More...

I tend to gravitate towards modern-day women's fiction, so I wasn't prepared for this book to resonate with me like it did. A fictional account of the events surrounding the abdication of King Edward VIII from the throne at the beginning of the second World War, this fascinating narrative weaves the stories of the actual participants and imaginary onlookers in a seamless and engrossing way.

First, we meet May Thomas, newly arrived in England from the island of Barbados, who along with her brother More...

What do you say when you have high hopes for a juicy steak full of flavor and discover it has been replaced with soy protein? That is how I felt about Juliet Nicolson's foray into fiction . . . blah.

That is not to say that there isn't a story here among the ramblings and character sketches that are less than sketches. The moments between Wallis and the Prince of Wales are perfect right down to the smallest details of how Wallis briefly touched the Prince's hand to get him to stop smoking at th

More...

Abdication was a book I had my sights set on for some time. The book is set in England, 1936 as King Edward comes to the English throne and rumours begin to fly about his association with Wallis Simpson, a married (and previously divorced) American. This is an era that I really haven’t read much about, so I was eager to find out more. I find I learn my history much better through fiction!

The story opens with May, who has recently arrived from Barbados, acting as a chauffeur for Sir Philip Blunt. More...

This is a book for history lovers, Anglophiles and romance readers - or anyone who just likes a good story.


The Abdication
Juliet Nicolson
The title refers to the abdication of the British throne by King Edward VIII because he could not be king and marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Although it is the important glue that holds Abdication together, it is a minor part of the story.
This historical romance instead features young May, a British subject born and raised in Barbados on a sugar pla More...

England 1936. The country is mourning the death of the King, the heir is involved in a questionable romance with a married (and divorced) American, unemployment is a problem, as it the imminent threat of war. Abdication, the first novel for author Juliet Nicolson, explores this very unique and volatile time in history. Nineteen year old May Thomas, a recent arrival to England from her home in Barbados secures a job as a secretary and driver to Sir Philip Blunt, where she often finds herself expo More...

When does what I know stop being a secret and turn into an unreleased issue?

In 1936, May Thomas finds herself traveling to England in search of work, and inadvertently becomes tangled in history as it is happening. She becomes a chauffeur to a family closely associated with King Edward and Wallis Simpson, a woman determined to have whatever she wants regardless of the consequences. May knows and accepts her position to keep a low profile, and whatever she happens to see to herself. Yet watching More...

I learned a valuable lesson while reading Abdication by Juliet Nicolson. I learned that no matter how beautiful the cover, how enticing the subject matter (should be), how perfect the name (and Abdication is such a beautiful name for a novel), if things just don't work, they just don't work.

I read the first 60% of the book and I felt like a cheerleader for 50% of it. It was tiring! I kept hoping, praying, eventually pleading for the characters to ignite some kind of spark inside of me, just some More...

This book was not what I had anticipated; I had expected it to focus on the unprecedented abdication of the King of England. Instead, this is a work of fiction that merely uses the abdication as a backdrop, as a way to set the historical period.

There are two main characters, one is a fictional friend of Wallis Simpson and the other is a young female who is hired as a secretary and driver for a member of the British Parliament. Unfortunately, the first one is portrayed almost exclusively as a car More...

Nicholson has a knack for making history come alive! Unfortunately the abdication of Edward VIII and his entanglement with Wallis Simpson is left in the background. When Nicholson tells David (Edward VIII) and Wallis’ story it truly sparkles. The details are incredible even down to how they spoke, looked, and what they wore. The story of May, a 19 year old woman of Scottish descent, who grew up in Barbados, is lackluster however. There’s also a side story involving Evangeline who was a school fr More...

I was drawn to this novel, which tells the story of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, albeit as secondary characters, after watching the movie, [i]The King’s Speech[/i], which I loved. This is a debut novel for the author, Juliet Nicholson, but she is a well known and respected writer of nonfiction and has written on this time period. In the interest of full disclosure, I freely admit that my knowledge of this subject is absolutely minimal, so I was relying completely upon Ms. Nicholson’s backgrou More...

This backdrop of this novel is England in the thirties, during the love affair and subsequent abdication of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.

This memorable and epic event, seen through the eyes of the main character, May Thomas, begins with her employment as a chauffeur by Sir Philip Blunt, a government official who is close to the affair. May meets Wallis when she brings Mrs Nettlefold, an old friend of Wallis, to the Fort, where Prince Edward has taken up residence. May also meets Julian, More...

One king dies and his eldest son ascends to the throne and then abdicates in order to marry a woman who apparently tries to convince him to do otherwise. Oswald Mosley and his blackshirt fascists are gaining strength, but the Spanish Civil War is inspiring young men to fight for an opposite cause. Britain in the tumultuous year of 1936 is the backdrop for this novel, and as in her two riviting nonfiction accounts of the times on either side of WWI, author Juliet Nicolson includes a wealth of fas More...

This book is given a 3 star rating because it has major flaws as well as amazing positive qualities.
The positives:
History brought to life. The historical details are brilliantly accurate and well researched.
Brilliantly written. Ms. Nicolson is an educated woman with the ability to write well.
Interesting charaters.
Interesting historical events.
Learning about the naughty behavior of the royals is captivating.
Diving into the lavish life of a royal is fun abd exciting.

Cons: cold, emotionally under d More...

There's something about the writing or my mood that's making me hyper-critical of this book, so I'm picking the book apart, sometimes even when it doesn't deserve it. So I'm giving up, having read 100 pages or so.

Part of the problem is the overwhelming amount of historical detail that seems to be included to show the author knows the period, rather than to advance and enhance the plot. The plot is focused on two bystanders to Edward VIII's abdication. The first, May, a woman chauffeur for a fami More...

Originally posted on The Tiny Book Nook

My Rating: 2.5 out 5

Overall, this wasn't exactly a page turner. Although it is well written and full of detailed descriptions. I started to read this thinking that the plot was intriguing and I was eager to see how the characters' lives were influenced by this particular event in British history.

Nicholson's characters were full of detail. She provides structured background information about them, detailing their lives up to the small things that lead them More...

When I heard about this book I was so excited to read it, it seemed to have everything I love in historical fiction: great characters, lots of history, a setting I love, and a little romance. Unfortunately the book did not live up to my expectations. It was well written and the subject was interesting, but the story never pulled me in or caught my interest for very long. The main problem I had was that it seemed to take so long for the book to go anywhere as far as a plot. I kept reading and wai More...

I received this through GoodReads Giveaway.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I know very little about Wallis Simpson and the king who abdicated his throne for her, so this was quite interesting. I don't know how accurate the factual events were related in this book, but from accounts, this is a reliable author who does her homework.

The book spans the year before the abdication as is related by Mae, Evangeline, and Julian. Mae is a young woman from Barbados who has been hir More...

What on earth was meant to be the point of this book? In spite of the title, it certainly wasn't the story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson; they're nothing more than walk-ons. Nor was it the stories of either of the two primary characters, Evangeline Nettleford, childhood friend of Wallis, or May Thomas, Barbados-born but in England working as chauffeuse to respected MP Sir Philip Blunt, because neither story took center stage and neither was very effectively resolved. It wasn't the intersecti More...

This book was a lot different than what I was expecting. I thought that the book was going to focus a lot more on the abdication of King Edward, who left the throne to marry twice divorced American, Wallis Simpson. I thought that would be a very interesting story. Instead this (and a couple other historical events of the era) are used as the backdrop to the story of two fictional characters.

You all know that I enjoy historical fiction a lot. I think that it is compelling when it follows histori More...

This novel gave me a lot of historical information about a subject I knew very little about. Wallis Simpson, was an American married woman (in her third marriage) when she became involved with H.R.H. Edward VIII. The story is told through the eyes and words of 3 main characters. One was a young woman who was hired as a driver and secretary to an important Englishman involved in British society. Another was an American woman who had been a school friend of Wallis and kept in touch for many years. More...

I enjoyed this book, I love historical fiction. Learning a bit about history while being wrapped up in the lives of people who could have lived at that time, what’s not to like? The title lead me to believe that I would be reading about Edward and the reasons he abdicated for Mrs. Simpson in the 1930’s, but it is more about the lives of people around them. May is a girl from the Islands who lands a job as chauffer for a member of the cabinet in England. We follow her and her family along with pe More...

Even for a beach read, this was disappointing. All the poor people have hearts of gold! All the rich people are assholes!

Most baffling was the weird treatment of sex - the protagonist's dad is clearly UP TO NO GOOD, but he'll just breathe on your and pet your hair in a creepy way. I feel like the author wanted to give our heroine a tragic backstory, but not TOO tragic. What we end up with is a girl who is seemingly damaged from abuse becoming really sex-positive after crushing on some dude for More...