{"product_id":"her-lotus-year-china-the-roaring-twenties-and-the-making-of-wallis-simpson-hardcover","title":"Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePaul French\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eHer Lotus Year\u003c\/i\u003e is an untold story in the colorful life of a woman too often maligned by history.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePAUL FRENCH\u003c\/b\u003e was born in London and lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. His book \u003ci\u003eMidnight in Peking \u003c\/i\u003ewas a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eBestseller and a \u003ci\u003eBBC Radio 4 \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Week. He received the Mystery Writers' of America Edgar award for Best Fact Crime and a Crime Writers' Association (UK) Dagger award for non-fiction. His most recent book \u003ci\u003eCity of Devils: A Shanghai Noir\u003c\/i\u003e received much praise with \u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e writing, '...in Mr French the city has its champion storyteller.' Both \u003ci\u003eMidnight in Peking \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e City of Devils \u003c\/i\u003eare currently in development for film.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.12 x 8.49 x 5.77 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 12, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51758505296160,"sku":"9781250287472","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/36f7cdcae04818eb8b43028d7e4fc8c6.webp?v=1780128172","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/her-lotus-year-china-the-roaring-twenties-and-the-making-of-wallis-simpson-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}