Lost Autumn

Starred review from January 13, 2020
MacColl’s captivating, seamless historical (after Falling Snow) imagines a web of secrets connecting an elderly Australian author with the English royal family. In 1920, 17-year-old Australian Maddie Bright gets a job as a correspondence secretary on the staff of the prince of Wales as the prince tours that continent. In chapters alternating between 1997, 1920, and 1918, MacColl slowly illuminates the connections between Maddie and others on the tour through a birth out of wedlock, war, and marriage. During her employ, she dances with the prince at a ball in Perth, and is also captivated by the story of Helen Burns, who saved the life of fellow royal staffer Rupert Waters during WWI, after he was injured in France. In 1997, London journalist Victoria Byrd flies to Australia at the request of Maddie, now known as M.A. Bright and the reclusive author of a popular novel inspired by Helen and Rupert’s story. Maddie has promised to release a sequel, but has more on her mind than the book when talking to Victoria, who Maddie wishes to meet after learning more about the aftermath of the time she, Helen, and Rupert spent with the prince. MacColl’s impressive attention to detail integrates historical research with lyrical psychological realism. Fans of historicals will find this saga riveting. Agent: Dan Lazar, Writer’s House.

March 1, 2020

In 1920 Australia, 17-year-old Maddie Bright applies for a job as a serving girl on the train for the royal tour of the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII) but soon proves herself indispensable as corresponding secretary to the prince. She gains entrée to his inner circle and witnesses the responsibilities and privilege bestowed upon royalty. She's enthralled with the glamour but naive about its dark side. In 1981, author M.A. Bright, famous for her one novel, Lost Autumn, lives alone in a ramshackle house in Brisbane. She watches the news of the engagement of Diana and Prince Charles and wonders what will become of Diana. The story shifts to 1997 and follows journalist Victoria as she navigates dating a famous American actor. Unaccustomed to the limelight, she struggles with an assignment to cover the tragic death of Diana. When she's emotionally unable to continue with the story, she is reassigned to interview M.A. Bright, who has specifically requested Victoria cover her long-awaited second novel. VERDICT MacColl (In Falling Snow) weaves the threads of each story into a compelling account of friendship, love, loss, and betrayal. This gift to historical fiction readers is also recommended to fans of Pam Jenoff.--Susan Santa, Shelter Rock P. L., Albertson, NY

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
MacColl (In Falling Snow, 2013) spans decades and continents in a sweeping story about a young woman's coming-of-age and her lifelong journey to reclaim her story. In 1920 Australia, 17-year-old Maddie Bright is hired to serve on the royal train during the cross-continental tour of Edward, Prince of Wales. Ascending from servant girl to correspondence secretary, Maddie quickly becomes part of the prince's inner circle and entangled in romantic rivalries with devastating consequences. More than 60 years later, some startling news causes Maddie to revisit the past. In a parallel narrative, Victoria Byrd, a young journalist in late 1990s London, gets the interview of a lifetime with reclusive author M. A. Bright. Her visit to the author's Australian home gives Victoria time to reflect on her troubled romantic relationship and discover a surprising connection. MacColl draws on the lives of Edward VIII and Princess Diana to explore our enduring fascination with royalty and the hidden costs of fame. Sure to be a book-club favorite, Lost Autumn will please fans of Beatriz Williams and Kate Morton.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)