The Millionaire Waltz by Anthony Quinn begins with a proposal. Edie Greenlaw says yes to David Benton-Launer. The trouble is, Evie is an actress and there’s a casting coming up for The Voysey Inheritance.
It is 1924 and London is in that transitional Edwardian era when both men and women are changed by the Great War. The men came home expecting to find a woman to marry but in their absence women became empowered, seeking responsibility and careers and independence. Edie and her war hero are betrothed but while David is ready to settle down straight away, Edie prevaricates. His formidable mother frowns and her parents are bemused. David is accommodating. Edie is cast as the lead role in Antony and Cleopatra, the show is a hit, and so the wedding is delayed. And then an old teenage acquaintance re-appears to muddy the waters and confuse Edie’s ideas of what she wants and doesn’t want.
Her performance as Cleopatra is a success but without another role, Edie begins to model fashions for Dickens and Jones. She continues to manage the remodelling and decoration at the house David has bought for their married life, and to have fittings for her wedding dress and trousseau. But as the delays continue, a slight distance grows between the betrothed couple. Edie delights in her friends from the theatre and the troubles of Peter, a doctor, make her determined to help him. Peter is being abused by a gay lover and Edie takes appalling risks in a plan to have the villain arrested.
I have enjoyed every one of Anthony Quinn’s novels I’ve read, each so different from the others, all eloquently written and immersive. I hesitate though to describe this as a thriller, more a romance with a mystery sub-plot.
Read my reviews of these other novels by Anthony Quinn:-
CURTAIN CALL
FREYA
HALF OF THE HUMAN RACE
MOLLY & THE CAPTAIN
OUR FRIENDS IN BERLIN
THE RESCUE MAN
THE STREETS
If you like this, try:-
‘The Doll Factory’ by Elizabeth Macneal
‘The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar
‘The Ballroom’ by Anna Hope
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