BOOK CLUB: The True Story of Maddie Bright

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Author: Mary-Rose MacColl
ISBN: 978 1 76029 524 0
RRP: $29.99
Publication Date: April 2019
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher

Initially I was unsure whether I liked this novel, because some elements of the plot veer close to cliché; however, in the end I was won over by the complexities and complications of the characters. The strength of “The True Story of Maddie Bright” lies in vividly drawn, interesting and empathetic characters. The plot, while interesting, is largely familiar; but the characters will keep you reading.

In 1920s Australia the teenage Maddie is desperate for a job – any job – to help feed her family. To her astonishment, she finds herself helping Prince Edward with his correspondence while he tours Australia. Soon, however, the romantic and wide-eyed Maddie is involved with people far more worldly than she, and she is quickly in over her head.

Another strand of the novel takes us to meet Maddie again, now in her 70s and living in Australia. There’s a lot of interest in finding out how her life got from there to here, and what the connections are between these two strands and the third: set largely in England, Victoria is a mature and experienced journalist who’s been asked to travel to Australia to interview Maddie.

Young Maddie and old Maddie are recognisably the same person; intelligent, caring, straight forward, and sometimes blisteringly honest. She’s a character readers will care about, and I genuinely wanted to know what happened to her. It becomes clear very early on that something notable is going to happen to her in the 1920s, although it’s not initially clear what the impact will be and how it influences the person she becomes and the life she leads between the two time periods we’re following.

MacColl does a great job of conveying the historical elements of the novel – notably the tour of Australia by the real Prince Edward VIII. These are vividly depicted, and although as far as I know all specific incidents in the book are fiction, she captures the flavour of real events and emotions.

To some extent the novel is an exploration of what you owe other people: your family, your friends, your lovers, the people you meet casually. It’s subtle about it, but it will make you stop and think. How do you treat the people you come across? Would you make the same decisions as the characters?

The novel also touches lightly on a very current issue: who decides what’s true and what’s “fake news”? Where views conflict, who has the power to determine what becomes the “genuine” narrative? I suspect that MacColl started writing this novel before these issues became central to the daily news, but it certainly adds currency to the narrative. There’s an echo of MeToo as well – again, probably not deliberately, but it’s hard to read the novel without reflecting on current events.

In the end I really enjoyed “The True Story of Maddie Bright”, mostly due to the characters. I enjoyed spending time with them, and wanted to know what was going to happen to almost all of them. Only two or three are (deliberately) less appealing. Most are people you’d be happy to know. I particularly recommend this novel to people who enjoy strong characters.

This guest review was submitted by Lorraine Cormack, one of our long-time Beauty and Lace Club members. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Lorraine.

You can follow Mary-Rose MacColl on Facebook and her Website.

The True Story of Maddie Bright is available now through Allen & Unwin and where all good books are sold.

Thanks to Allen & Unwin 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club members will be reading The True Story of Maddie Bright so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.

19 thoughts on “BOOK CLUB: The True Story of Maddie Bright

  1. An entertaining story beautifully told!

    In 1920, young Maddie Bright is selected to assist Prince Edward’s team on his royal tour in Australia. Her writing ability is recognised but she ends up getting involved in a lot more than she first bargained for. Eventually, in 1981, Maddie has written her first book which is based on her perception of two lovely characters she met while on the tour and the novel is a huge success. In 1997, Victoria Byrd is a journalist based in London who has been asked to interview Maddie as there is talk of her second novel being released.

    This is a fictional story but is based on historical elements that are true – Prince Edward’s Australian tour in 1920 and there are also connection references to Lady Diana’s marriage and ultimately, her tragic death. Admittedly, it was a little hard at first switching between three different time periods (1920, 1981 and 1997) and I was a tad bit lost in the beginning, but my persistence was well worth the effort as the novel progressed. I warmed very much to the realistic characters and felt them truly come alive.

    Thank you very much Beauty and Lace and Allen and Unwin for the opportunity to read this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to seeking out other novels from this talented author.

  2. Australian author, Mary-Rose MacColl, brings us her latest historical fiction novel, The True Story of Maddie Bright. My initial interest lay in the title as I believed it was based on Maddie Bright but this was misleading. MacColl has stated in the Author Note that while she did research Edward, Prince of Wales, the other characters are fictional. While I was worried that this would spoil my enjoyment of the novel, this was quickly unfounded. MacColl has created a novel that draws the reader into the lives of two women across three different timelines; 1920, 1981 and 1997. The mysterious, Autumn Leaves, is also entwined between the different years. Numerous themes that are relevant to society, despite the times, are raised but the underpinning theme across all timelines is the royals. Time has not faded our fascination.

    In 1920 and 1981, the main protagonist is Maddie Bright. The year 1920 introduces the reader to the naïve and trusting seventeen year old girl. Maddie comes from a family that is struggling after the war. While her brothers did not survive the Great War, her father has come back a different man. MacColl sensitively yet honestly portrays PTSD and the effects it had on family members. To help her family out in their time of need, Maddie gets a job as a serving girl on the Royal Australian Tour of Prince of Wales, Edward. When it is discovered that her father is a writer, Maddie is upgraded to press secretary, responding to the many letters that the Prince receives. While it is clear that Maddie has a talent for writing, it is less clear that things are not quite right with the Prince. Like the slow burn attraction between Maddie and the Prince, it is only obvious with time that things are not what they seem. Her work colleague and close friend, Helen, is wise beyond her years and warns Maddie to be careful. With youth and optimism on her side, will Maddie heed Helen’s warning? With themes of PTSD, war, death, family, secrets and royalty, history is set to repeat itself in 1997.

    In 1981, Maddie is a woman well into her 90s. She has made her choices as a woman on the brink of adulthood and lives with the consequences every day. Maddie’s experiences on the tour had lead to her writing her first novel, Autumn Leaves, based on her time as press secretary. An honest and discreet woman, Maddie has only told one person, her alcoholic neighbour, Ed, the truth of what occurred all those decades ago. Even though Maddie is an independent woman, the importance of friendship for young and old is evident. Now Maddie is ready to write the sequel, Winter Skies, as she watches Diana prepare to marry Prince Charles. With her secrets held close to her heart, Maddie knows exactly what Diana is walking into when she becomes a part of the royal family.

    It is 1997 and Princess Diana is dead. Victoria is a journalist covering Diana’s death. An ethical and hardworking career woman, Victoria begins to question her job. Through Victoria, MacColl delves into the dark side of the press, leaving the reader pondering. Victoria is also in a relationship. It is not an ordinary relationship as she is committed to movie star, Ben. While everything appears to be perfect on the surface, Victoria is hiding her own secrets from friends and family. During this tumultuous time in her life, Maddie requests Victoria to interview her. With rumours of the sequel, Victoria cannot say no, leading her to discover she shares an extraordinary link with Maddie herself.

    The True Story of Maddie Bright is one to put on the TBR shelves of historical fiction buffs.

  3. I find this book incredibly hard to get into. It’s intertwined story lines kept getting me lost and I often found I had to go back and reread parts to understand what was happening. Reading it in bits didn’t help either.

    Thankfully I read the second half of the book over an afternoon and all of the story lines all of a sudden made sense and I was able to see the story as a whole.

    It’s not something I would have normally chosen, but I’m glad I stuck to it as it’s well written and as a whole story, it’s both compelling and moving.

  4. Thanks again to Beauty and Lace, A & U for the opportunity to read Mary- Rose MacColl’s – The true story of Maddie Bright.
    I found this book, at first to be quite challenging and confusing, until I got a third of the way through and worked out what was going on, how the time periods and characters were all connected. I am glad I persevered as I really enjoyed reading it.
    With current media hype over the Royal Family still to this day, it makes you question how much is truth and how much is sensationalized to keep you wanting more

  5. Thank you Beauty and Lace and Allen and Unwin for the pleasure of reviewing this book,

    I knew I’d love this book when a much older Maddie asks young Andrew if he’s read Autumn Leaves and Andrew answers “I don’t read much” and Maddie’s response is “Well, you might as well not bother living then” I couldn’t agree more and knew I was onto a winner.

    I was reminded and instantly brought back to that unforgettable dreadful day when I heard the distressing news that Princess Diana had died, I remembered exactly where I was, what I was doing, how I felt, how others around me were reacting, the memory and aftermath of that event etched in my mind forever. I liked Victoria’s recounting of when she travelled to Paris with her work colleague and the comparison, she made between the shambolic hurriedly stitched together French guard and the British contingent in perfect formation, at the aerodrome preparing Dianna for her final flight home.

    This book has everything, early baby hatches – foundling wheels, war torn London, intertwined love stories over decades, rags to riches, deception, me-too, stolen innocence, Maddie’s father suffering PTSD, opportunities, right place, right time, true friendships, loyalty, duty and power, domestic violence, trains, ships, automobiles, and even a possum ridden lop-sided house.

    Such wonderful characters, it did have me wondering and hoping whilst I read the book that all their stories like individual crocheted squares, would come together to form a beautiful patchwork quilt in the end which they did in a way that I did not suspect.

    It is mentioned in the rear of the book and also I tuned into a Podcast where Mary-Rose talked about her fascinating inspiration for the book came from reading a newspaper article on a visit to Australia in 1920 near Bridgetown in Western Australia, that Prince Edward’s train carriage derailed and the front two coaches, including the one the royal party was overturned and slid down an embankment, after the driver had just stopped to avoid hitting a cow, and despite being thrown from their seats thank fully none of the passengers were injured.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I definitely look forward to adding more books by Mary Rose MacColl to my TBR pile

  6. The True Story of Maddie Bright – by Mary-Rose MacColl

    Initially, I found this book hard to get into and it wasn’t keeping me motivated to keep reading, however I kept going and I’m glad I did. I liked Maddie’s personality and due to that I was eager to follow her story.

    I thoroughly enjoyed learning a more detailed history of the royal family specifically Prince Edward, I found it fascinating.

    With ‘fake news’ so prevalent in today’s media, this book continues to get you thinking about this and wondering just what you can trust.

    Overall, I would recommend this book as an intriguing and interesting read.

  7. I really enjoyed this book set over a long life time of significant events starting on a train with royalty. A story the probes you never know what’s coming next. It will keep you guessing until the end a very interesting read.
    Thank you beauty and lace and Allen &Unwin this was a great read

  8. Thank you Beauty & Lace and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to review ‘The true story of Maddie Bright’.

    I will admit it was initially a little challenging to work between each time period, however once I read on further, I started to enjoy the myriad of characters, from Maddie’s next door neighbour Ed, to Helen and Rupert whom she worked on the Royal Tours with. All of the characters were moving and intriguing to say the least. I really felt that a strong message of humans needing human connection whether you’re young or old came through in the story line.

    This book also had me transporting right back to 1997 and the untimely death of Princess Diana, and reading the events unfolding in the book, were exactly as they were back then.
    I am so glad I got through the initial confusion and read the book in its entirety to discover the wonderful characters and compelling story lines.
    and highly recommend this book. I look forward to reading more from Mary-Rose acColl.

  9. Thank you to A&U and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read and review The True Story of Maddie Bright. At first I was a little unsure if it was really my type of book but once I started reading, I was hooked. The historical aspect based on real life people had me googling and being intrigued by the members of the Royal Family. I wanted to like Prince Edward and did so at the beginning but spoiler alert – I now have a lot more dismal view of him. Whether or not it is based in truth, well…

    I messaged the author at one critical point as I reached a cliffhanger and had to go work!! What a conundrum! A great book which as other reviewers have mentioned took me back to the days of 1997 and the tragic death of Princess Diana.

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