Review of 'The Governess' by Wendy Holden - A Five Star Crowning Glory
Uk’s Wendy Holden is a best selling author. Please visit Wendy’s excellent site for more information on her work and social media links. There is much to enjoy. I particularly was intrigued when I discovered that Wendy lives in a little castle in England. Also, of her long fascination with the Royals and her desire to write a different kind of story about the Windsors. Her latest novel is what some might call a prequel to The Crown. Wouldn’t this make a great TV series?
Congrats to Wendy for all her hard work has paid off. She has created a 5 star novel of the highest order! Read Wendy’s background story with wonderful photos of her own unique residence.
Review:
Currently stories about the Royals are all the rage. The Crown on Netflix has held many of us captive. Wendy Holden has also drawn from that rich royal well but her leading lady is Marion Crawford, a forgotten and somewhat unappreciated woman from the past who gave her life to teaching Elizabeth and Margaret of the House of Windsor.
It is a magical moment when Wendy mentions in her Author Notes how the book, The Little Princesses written by Marion Crawford, literally falls into her hands from a bookshelf. With such an entrance, you know her novel is going to be nothing less than inspiring.
The Prologue of The Governess opens in July 1987 in Aberdeen Scotland. The elderly woman is waiting with anticipation, as she has every year, in hopes that a special visitor will come have tea with her. This curious introduction leads us into Crawfie’s (Marion’s) life. The epilogue later offers a beautiful, though sad, rapturous closure.
The detailed story between the covers, showing Marion’s less than normal life journey, is a fascinating one but also tragic. Her devotion, desire and disappointment are masterfully woven on the pages as Wendy sweeps us into that inner world of secrecy and less than perfect regal realm.
Wendy has brought this jewel in the crown, once hidden story, to light of the daring Governess who lived with and taught Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth (current Queen). The cost of Marion's sacrifice is heartbreaking and she is punished forever for her one transgression: telling her story.
There is a great amount of detail in this novel which would have required a massive amount of research. This would not have been an easy story to write on so many levels but Wendy has carefully carved out events, sensitively fleshed out characters based on real people, and drawn a picture for us so intimate that we do not just get a glimpse of the royals’ childhood but experience it through Marion’s (Crawfie’s) eyes.
Hats off and a curtsy to Wendy for delivering such an impressive literary performance on such a difficult topic. Highly recommended for all royal story fans. (5 stars)
