The Bahamas, 1941. Newly widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in Nassau to write a magazine article about its newest wartime residents: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But as she infiltrates the royal couple’s social circle she discovers that Windsor-era Nassau roils with spies, financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of charismatic charm and murky national loyalties. When Benedict Thorpe disappears without a trace, 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 set against a shocking true crime . . . and the rise and fall of a legendary royal couple.
