Her Lotus Year

China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson

By: Paul French

Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow

New York Times bestselling author Paul French examines a controversial and revealing period in the early life of the legendary Wallis, Duchess of Windsor—her one year in China.

Before she was the Duchess of Windsor, Bessie Wallis Warfield was Mrs. Wallis Spencer, wife of Earl “Win” Spencer, a US Navy aviator. From humble beginnings in Baltimore, she rose to marry a man who gave up his throne for her. But what made Wallis Spencer, Navy Wife, the woman who could become the Duchess of Windsor? The answers lie in her one-year sojourn in China.

In her memoirs, Wallis described her time in China as her “Lotus Year,” referring to Homer’s Lotus Eaters, a group living in a state of dreamy forgetfulness, never to return home. Though faced with challenges, Wallis came to appreciate traditional Chinese aesthetics. China molded her in terms of her style and provided her with friendships that lasted a lifetime. But that “Lotus Year” would also later be used to damn her in the eyes of the British Establishment.

The British government’s supposed “China Dossier” of Wallis’s rumored amorous and immoral activities in the Far East was a damning concoction, portraying her as sordid, debauched, influenced by foreign agents, and unfit to marry a king. Instead, French, an award-winning China historian, reveals Wallis Warfield Spencer as a woman of tremendous courage who may have acted as a courier for the US government, undertaking dangerous undercover diplomatic missions in a China torn by civil war.

Her Lotus Year is an untold story in the colorful life of a woman too often maligned by history.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2024 Paul French (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Where does an unhappily married woman go in 1924 to seek peace of mind? To China, for adventure and glamour. What happens to her after this mysterious “lotus year”? She becomes none other than the Duchess of Windsor. A fascinating and very fun read."–Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of Lady Tan's Circle of Women and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

"Riveting and fascinating, Paul French has put flesh on the bones in his detailed account of what Wallis really did in her ‘Lotus Year.'"–Anne Sebba, New York Times bestselling author of That Woman

“I thought there was nothing left to learn about the Duchess of Windsor. But Paul French has proven me wrong in this book of fascinating revelations.”–Laurence Leamer, New York Times bestselling author of Capote’s Women

The narration makes me wish I had bought the actual book

In my opinion, any book about the Duchess of Windsor is a decadent peek into a world many of us will never experience. I am early into the book, and the author has already painted vivid tableaus of the places Wallis went. We have been on a navy transport ship and traveled up a mountainside in China. We’ve smelled the colorful flowers, seen the vermin, sailed the waters and consumed cocktails by the bay. All things that could have been elevated to an even higher level of a tremendous sensory journey, if not for the halting reading of the narrator. Pauses in the middle of sentences and an uneven cadence make this audiobook almost unpleasant to listen to and, ultimately, very disappointing.

Backstory of WS

Backstory of WS

This provides all the details of WS which we have not had much awareness of previously. Before she was the paramour of the future British king, Wallis had a rich and interesting life in east Asia. Paul French has done good research in writing this biography.

Laurel Lefkow's narration is ok, but not at a sophisticated level for polyglots.

I recommend this latest book by Paul French.

An interesting new look at Wallis Simpson

I rate this 3.5 out of 5.

Brief Summary: This book examines the time Wallis Simpson spent in China. Her time in China totals just over a year and this book includes not only the political climate of China but the people that Simpson encountered during her time there.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. French captured the excitement and tension of a woman venturing from home to find herself. This is the first book that I have read about Simpson that focuses exclusively on a time before she became the obsession of Edward VIII and that novelty makes this book an important part of the works on Simpson.

French’s work has two shining moments. The first is that it details the marriage between Simpson and Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. Given that her third marriage sent the British monarchy into chaos and she was married to Ernest Simpson who she kept in touch with after her marriage (see Anne Seba’s work) the Spencer marriage is often only mentioned in a chapter. I appreciated how French details their early romance and the unravelling of their marriage 10 years later. I was previously unaware of the dynamics of this marriage and the information provided in this work shed new light on Simpson as a person.

The second is that French provides context for the woman Simpson developed into. Particularly the lifelong friends she made and her cultural interests. It was interesting to learn how she started her own business in China selling trinkets to supplement her income.

French’s conjectures on what Simpson was doing during her time in China are well-researched and compelling. He makes an interesting argument given the available evidence. However, the absence of evidence is not proof. When the Abdication Crisis occurred the British government constantly spread rumors about a China Dossier about how Simpson was a spy, a sex worker, and other salacious rumors. French points out that no evidence of the dossier has ever reached the public and thus likely does not exist. However, that is an impossible argument to make. Knowing some rumours and refuting known ones indicates that it was mostly fabricated information, but we cannot know for sure.

Overall, this is an interesting book. If you are interested in understanding Simpson as a person, this book adds to the known evidence and will help you flesh out an understanding of her. However, 50% of this book is about the political landscape of China at the time. This is important information, particularly if, like me, you do not understand what was happening in China during this time. Another 10% of this book is about the friends that Simpson made along the way and what happened to them after the time focused on in this book. The remaining 40% of the book focuses on Simpson.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Infertility and Abortion