She even managed to visit the place in the Supreme Court where Justice Carew presided over the infamous custody battle of Vanderbilt. She also visited most of the sites she was depicting: both in the UK and Gloria’s townhouse in New York. She dived into the era’s music, clothing, jewelry, books, newspapers, film reels, and other cultural artifacts to get a further sense of Thelma’s world. In her research, Turnbull stuck to non-fiction (biographies, court transcripts, history books and newsreels) in order to ascertain who these people were.
When I realized her story intersected with ‘royalty’ on both sides of the pond, I was hooked.” Thelma, through her twin sister, was peripheral to not one, but two major historical events: the abdication, and the 1934 Vanderbilt custody trial. Writing a novel about, say, Freda Dudley Ward would be interesting because of her years-long romance with Edward, but it would be a story only about that relationship. Once Turnbull started her research into Thelma she realized that: “Thelma’s story was about so much more than her relationship with Edward. Wallis, the consummate outsider, didn’t share that respect, and was therefore willing to let Edward do what he wanted from the outset: renounce his claim to the throne.” What was it about Wallis that was different? Through marriage, Thelma was part of the British aristocracy, and had a healthy respect for the institution of the monarchy. “The parallels between Wallis and Thelma spoke to me. The story is well-known among history buffs, but Turnbull offers up a completely new perspective on Wallis’ predecessor.
Soon after, Edward and Wallis became lovers, which ultimately led to his abdication of the throne so he could marry Wallis. When her sister Gloria Vanderbilt needs help during the infamous custody trial involving her daughter and the Vanderbilts, Thelma gets on a boat, but only after asking her friend Wallis Simpson to take care of Edward VIII in her absence. Shortly after she arrived in England, her husband introduced her to the Edward VIII (Prince of Wales at the time) and she became his mistress.
Thelma Morgan led an illustrious life as a socialite in 1930s New York and Europe, eventually marrying Viscount Marmaduke Furness, a British shipping magnate. In her novel The Woman before Wallis (Mira, 2020), Bryn Turnbull has written about the life of Thelma Furness (née Morgan), twin sister of Gloria Vanderbilt, great aunt of CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper and mistress of Edward VIII, former king of the United Kingdom. The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull: King Edward VIII’s Devotion to Thelma Furness
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