Holden weaves history and fiction together in this story of Wallis Simpson’s arrival into the world of the Royal Family. The Duchess, the second novel in Wendy Holden's trilogy about royal outsiders, fictionalises the unknown London life of Wallis Simpson. Arriving in 1928, Wallis was a divorced, penniless, middle-aged foreigner with average looks and no connections. Yet, just eight years later, a king renounced his throne for her. How did a woman from nowhere capture the heart of the world's most glamorous bachelor? Wendy Holden tells the story.