At the outset of Dean's solid historical, the highly arranged life of the 17-year-old prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, takes a drastic turn. One day in May 1911 while speeding in his motorcar, the prince, known as David, hits a young woman, Rose Houghton, riding on her bicycle near her home, Snowberry Manor. He rushes Rose to the manor house, where he falls almost instantly in love with her youngest sister, Lily. David spends much time at Snowberry, where he can pretend to be an ordinary man. He proposes to Lily, but his father, George V, refuses to allow the marriage.
When David threatens to abdicate his right to the throne, Lily must choose between her own well-being and that of England. Besides creating a complicated lead in the prince, Dean (Palace Circle) deftly balances an array of well-drawn characters. Only the cartoonish villain, Captain Cullen, rings false.
