“The Golden Hour is pure golden delight Beatriz Williams is at the top of her game.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Alice NetworkBeatriz Williams, the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives, is back with another hot summer read; a dazzling epic of World War II in which a beautiful young “society reporter” is sent to the Bahamas, a haven of spies, traitors, … young “society reporter” is sent to the Bahamas, a haven of spies, traitors, and the infamous Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in the Bahamas to investigate the Governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires?
Or so Lulu imagines. 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 an ugly—and even treasonous—reality. In fact, Windsor-era Nassau seethes with spies, financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of tremendous charm and murky national loyalties. Inevitably, the willful and wounded Lulu falls in love.
Then Nassau’s wealthiest man is murdered in one of the most notorious cases of the century, and the resulting coverup reeks of royal privilege. Benedict Thorpe disappears without a trace, and Lulu embarks on a journey to London and beyond to unpick Thorpe’s complicated family history: a fateful love affair, a wartime tragedy, and a mother from whom all joy is stolen.
The stories of two unforgettable women thread together in this extraordinary epic of espionage, sacrifice, human love, and human courage, set against a shocking true crime . . . and the rise and fall of a legendary royal couple.
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The Golden Hour is pure golden delight. Beatriz Williams is at the top of her game.
Beatriz Williams is always a go-to favorite of mine and this one did not disappoint! Spanning several eras of a family, I found each narrative equally intriguing. I’ll be eagerly awaiting her next one!
The Golden Hour by Author, Beatriz Williams
Author Beatriz Williams has written a dramatic, well researched, multi-layered story of the Historical genre that will entice with its glamour, excitement and drama.
A story written in a time frame of 1919 to 1945- WWII, English Royalty, a touch of humor, romance and descriptive geographical locations, The Golden Hour is a sweeping saga with many surprises in store for its readers.
Although I enjoyed this story…I did find it a bit difficult in following the many characters that were introduced and with that, I was lacking a full connection which I was hopeful in having as two women’s stories were being weaved throughout time…
With that being said, this narrative does deliver on other points pertinent to its meaning and purpose, and overall a pleasant read.
I thank Author, Beatriz Williams and publisher, William Morrow for this ARC paperback copy in order that I may read and review….
4 Stars
Wild Sage Book Blog (FB)
Novels N Latte Book Club
I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. In return for honest review and my honest thoughts. I wanted to start off by saying I really didn’t know anything about this book. I knew it is a historical fiction and I just knew I needed to read this book. I am so glad I did. I wasn’t disappointed at all. I enjoyed reading about these two main characters and how they become connected at some point in the story. I am adding this book to my favorites and I be rereading this book again. And more this author as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone. This book touched on somethings. Women going through Postpartum depression. The author writing is so beautiful and I almost felt what these women were feeling in this book.
About Book.
This book goes back and fourth between times and our two main characters named Lulu and Elfriede. In 1941 Lulu is to travel to the Bahamas to write about the duke and the duchess. When she meets a man named Mr. Thorpe. Elfriede we meet her the year 1900 in a hospital where she is getting help after she had given birth to her first son. She is suffering from postpartum deppression but Elfriede calls it the black space. When reading you will learn how these two woman are connected. Again beautiful story highly recommend.
4 Stars
2.5 stars
I want to say I enjoyed this book, but I’m also confused upon finishing it. The book didn’t match the description. I’m left with so many questions about certain events, or lack of events I expected, but I can’t mention any of them without spoiling the book for others. There were things central to the Windsor storyline (which turned out to be quite a minor piece of the story) that were never explained. I also felt the end was rushed. But can the end of a 460 page book be rushed? Maybe there was too much unnecessary information earlier. Either way, I’m confused and not sure how I feel.
A wealth of beauty, intrigue, secrets, and lies. Beatriz Williams has always been a favorite, and this one does not disappoint.
Liked it
I loved how this book bounced between characters and timelines, and of course how it ultimately all ties together. Appreciated the historical references and just truly enjoyed the entire story.
Entertaining and interesting as it pertained to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who are fascinating characters. It felt a little as though the author got bored towards the end though.
Beatriz Williams’ new novel, The Golden Hour, released on July 9, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Especially when I learned that the author herself would be speaking at the St. Louis County Library. So, like a good reader, I showed up with my books in tow and heard some juicy tidbits about the factual and fictional mystery, murder, and romance within the novel.
The Golden Hour is a dual timeline novel switching between Elfriede’s story in 1900 and Lulu’s story in 1941. The story follows these two women around the globe from peaceful Swiss mountains to stunning German castles to Nassau’s gorgeous beaches and all the way to the edges of America as they navigate the experiences of World War I, World War II, and the hidden wars within their lives. To use the book’s own tagline, “Sooner or later the war will find you.” Every page holds a difficult decision, ones that change themselves or the ones they love, and sometimes even the potential to affect the greater humanity. There’s no hiding from it, and when they do set off on a path, it doesn’t necessarily take the direction you might expect. It was interesting to see real life events intricately molded with the fictional stories of these women, in particular the still-unsolved murder of Sir Harry Oakes and the governorship of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, a couple who according to the novel, often seemed more interested in parties and appearances than the problems of their people.
Lastly, if you’ve read Along the Infinite Sea, you’ll enjoy seeing a familiar character make a reappearance, but nothing is spoiled by reading The Golden Hour first. Even though I knew where that part of the story was headed, Ms. Williams shares an entirely new world of detail with the reader, making it easy to forget where the story will end up. This is the fourth novel I’ve read by Ms. Williams and I can still recommend every single one.
This review was first posted on kelseygietl.com.
Made it more than halfway thru this book before I gave up. Too much back and forth between time periods. Lulu was an absolutely engaging character, a woman ahead of her time in the 30’s and 40’s, and the setting in the Bahamas with the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor was certainly interesting but after three hundred pages and an inability to figure out what the hell the author was getting at, plus the overly wordy and descriptive narrative, I threw in the towel.
I am a fan of this author; but not so much of this book. It’s an imaginative and fanciful plot, set loosely around the unsolved murder of Harry Oakes that took place during World War II in the Bahamas. If you need a memory jog, that was when the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were living in the Bahamas (The Duke – former King Edward VIII of England – was Governor of the Bahamas).
This is another one of those books that deploys a plot device that seems to be SO WIDELY used now, by SO MANY authors, that completely annoys me. Basically, the book is chunked into sections that represent different time periods, in different locations, and the complete story doesn’t come together until the very end. In the interim, the reader must keep track of plot lines and characters from 1900, 1941, 1943, 1905, 1942, 1916, 1944, and finally, 1951 — in the Bahamas, Florida, London, Germany, Switzerland, and Scotland. I found myself continually looking back to try to figure out whether the chapter I was about to read came before or after a previous chapter about these same characters. AARRRGGHH! To me it’s jarring to do so much skipping around and did NOT seem essential to building suspense in the overall plot.
While the unsolved murder is real, the central protagonist is fictional. Lulu, recently widowed (though not because of the war), is trying to make a living writing a gossip column about the Windsors and their life in the Bahamas. While mixing in with the wealthy set that surrounds the Windsors, Lulu meets a man whose work is war-related but mysterious and, not surprisingly, love blossoms. She also meets people who will ultimately be connected to the murder but that is NOT a big part of the central plot. It’s much more Lulu’s story. Plus, we explore the back story of this mystery man’s family, particularly the tragic love story of his parents.
There are spies, Nazis, illegitimate siblings, mental illness, and dysfunctional family relationships. It’s a reasonably interesting story. Just much more difficult to follow than is necessary.
Well written with interesting characters.
another piece of world war 2
This was, in short, a fairly steamy romance (two of them, in fact) and over-long. There are two stories, one from around WWI and the other, WWII; two romances of a similar, consuming nature and protagonists only one generation at remove. Especially in the beginning, when no relationship between the two generations is divulged, I found it extremely disconcerting to be constantly, chapter by chapter, jerked back and forth between two completely discrete stories and timelines, so much so that at times I considered abandoning the book. When the relationship is finally revealed, it became somewhat easier but I still found things confusing at times, with the men in both stories called usually “Thorpe” rather than their given names. The whole business with the secret envelopes began also in confusion; I couldn’t figure if Lulu was sharing them with the Duke and Duchess are simply putting them in her desk drawer. And it took me ¾ of the rather long book to figure out what they were. I thought the characters that were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were well drawn, well researched and interestingly fleshed out psychologically. The stories were compelling enough that I was propelled speedily through the book, engaged; even if at times, I felt like slapping some of the characters.
I absolutely loved this book!
The plot and characters woven around the Duke and Duchess of Windsor ,although they weren’t the main characters, in the Bahamas was so unexpected.
A beautiful love story!
It makes me sad to only give this book 3 stars. Beatriz Williams is an incredibly talented writer, and I adored last summer’s Summer Wives. Sadly, I couldn’t get into this book. The main character wasn’t appealing to me, and the Windsor storyline (well, actually all the storylines) took too long to get going. I don’t have a tremendous amount of time, and books that take until page 200 to get interesting aren’t really for me. Looking forward to her next effort. Her writing is good enough for another shot.
A realistic story with authentic characters. Very moving with a wonderful ending. I loved the strong female characters, especially Lulu.
An entertaining novel with great storytelling and an ending that wraps up all the storylines. This author never fails to give the reader a wonderful page-turner book. Highly recommended!