The Girl in the White Gloves

The Girl in the White Gloves by Kerri Maher  384 pages

 

Most of us know Hollywood icon and Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco, from her movies. However, she was also known for Broadway roles and early, live  television roles. I’m not sure how I thought Grace landed the coveted roles in “Rear Window,”  “Dial M for Murder,” “To Catch a Thief “ and “High Society,” but she always had the allure of never having to struggle.

 

This novel, author Kerri Maher’s second, takes Kelly’s on-screen persona and smashes it to pieces. Maher takes readers on Grace’s a journey from an ordinary young woman trying to find her way in the world into what it must have been like to become one of the most admired, and sought after, women in the world. This is a human story; a real-life story.

 

The plot is non-linear; the story jumping around in time. If readers pay close attention, they can spot the patterns the time-frame creates. The transitions from year to year happen seamlessly; a feat for any writer. Personally, I felt that the time shifts gave readers a break from the normalcy and the exotic. Readers get to know plain Grace Kelly and her rather humble beginnings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to her move to New York, to her adventures in Hollywood, and to abandoning stardom for a real-life role as Princess .

 

I was heartbroken to read of her unhappiness with her Prince and how she felt that she had abandoned herself to serve the citizens of Monaco. The fairy tale courtship doesn’t seem that magical now.

 

I was surprised to learn that Grace’s life has been well-documented; I always saw her cool, calm and collected. That is one of the reasons I found her sexual encounters uncomfortable. I didn’t see her as a human being—and all that goes with it---before. Therefore, “The Girl in the White Gloves” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Royal Crown: From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess

Royal Crown: From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot           AudioBook: 4 hours, 7 minutes       Hardback book:  224 pages           

Not since the War of the Roses between the House of Stewart and the House of Tudor has there been such royal intrigue!   Cousins fighting amongst themselves to be the next successor to the Genovian throne being abdicated Princess Olivia’s Dad.    Cousins are coming out of the woodwork trying to climb over each other to grab the crown when succession traditionally goes to the oldest child of the previous monarch which means Olivia’s older sister (Olivia is third in line for the crown).   The cousins are playing on their worthiness, their birthrights and their genetic makeup according to the genobe project detecting their DNA lines.   It is not pretty heading up to the coronation with all the snarky remarks, backstabbing and mayhem afoot.   Add to this that loads of royal relatives are coming in for the coronation from all over the globe with their children which begets a golden opportunity to make some pocket money for the young royals to babysit the uppercrust children.   It is also a marketing coup the royal princesses advertise that the incoming royal guests can have their royal darlings babysat by princesses of the realm who can also impart knowledge to the kinder on how to behave with royal etiquette.   When the princesses royal grandmother got wind of their ploy she wanted in and took on the job of being their manager for 10% of their earnings (Grandma is certainly savvy and rules the roost).    A fun read with lots of haught attitude on Princess Luisa’s part – she is a little jerk to everyone but Grandmama knows how to get her in line – seems she is the only one with any sway when it comes to Luisa.    There is royal romance afoot, too, as well as squalling twins, and Princess Purple Iris (her mother got the idea for her name from Beyonce who she named her daughter Blue Ivy).   Princess Purple Iris is a three year old with a yen to be a hairdresser and insists on brushing everyone’s including any royal pooches’ hair or bear the brunt of her disgruntled screams.   Its either that or bear the beating of her brush and comb set – kind of a toss up and Olivia keeps suggesting Purple Iris brush the dog who just loves it.   The dog gives Olivia a long look and ducks and runs when Purple Iris comes after it, salon products in hand.     It is a cute and funny story and gads the subject of a young lady’s menses even takes center stage!    A fun romp of a story that I think would make a particularly well received film.   I would recommend this story and Meg Cabot has always been a fun writer to read.    Well done.  

Queens of Innis Lear

Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton     575 pages

The erratic decisions of a prophecy-obsessed king have drained Innis Lear of its wild magic, leaving behind a trail of barren crops and despondent subjects. Enemy nations circle the once-bountiful isle, sensing its growing vulnerability, hungry to control the ideal port for all trade routes.

The king's three daughters—battle-hungry Gaela, master manipulator Reagan, and restrained, starblessed Elia—know the realm's only chance of resurrection is to crown a new sovereign, proving a strong hand can resurrect magic and defend itself. But their father will not choose an heir until the longest night of the year, when prophecies align and a poison ritual can be enacted.

Refusing to leave their future in the hands of blind faith, the daughters of Innis Lear prepare for war—but regardless of who wins the crown, the shores of Innis will weep the blood of a house divided.

The book is long, so I'll keep my review brief: Writing: amazing. Story: well constructed, based off of King Lear but retold in a clever way, slow going. Characters: Well rounded, flawed, full of angst (every last one) Overall, I can say I liked the book, but definitely not as much as I was expecting to. It was much too long, or the story took too long to grab hold. Lots of flipping back and forth from past to present and so much narration of people, places, things that it took a long time between moments of action. This book was 50% peoples inner thoughts and monologues, 40% people talking to each other but not doing anything, and 10% things actually happening. It was slow, but well written. Is that enough for me to give it four stars? No. For some, this may be a four star or even five star read. Not for me. I don't regret having read it, but I'd only recommend it to people who like long, methodical world building and character development in their high-fantasy.

The Shadow Queen: A Novel of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

The Shadow Queen: A Novel of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Rebecca Dean  471 pages

I must admit that before I read The Shadow Queen, I didn’t know much about Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. 

Before I read this novel, Wallis’s life seemed like a fairy tale. A king abdicated his throne to marry her, and she was a socialite from the late 1910s through her death in 1986. However, Wallis not just another silver-spoon. She was driven, ambitious, intellectual, and witty.

 Her maiden name was Warfield, a prominent Baltimore family, and although she and her widowed mother were destitute, they relied on the support of her deceased father’s family and lived with relatives.

 

At school, she would have voted most likely to succeed.  The book chronicles her life from birth up until Prince Edward, who was about to become King Edward VIII. It goes into detail about her life as a child, a teenager, the devastating first love who betrayed her, a young woman, and both of her marriages. Throughout the story, Edward is present, having become the fascination of a young friend, and many times, Wallis was either near him or in his company.

Two things fascinated me the most. First, that she was homely, with a square jaw and flat-chested.  She was tall and angular. A women who gets around as much as Wallis did usually does not fall in the ugly category. Second, was her sexuality. Although she appeared normal, she was unable to have normal intercourse. Recent research suggests that she was born with a Disorder of Sexual Development, or intersexuality. Fortunately, the novel doesn’t linger on this aspect, but it runs subtly throughout.

 

I give this novel 5 out of 5 stars.

High Society

High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly by Donald Spoto, 303 pages

As an actress and a princess, Grace Kelly was the picture of poise, beauty, and, fittingly, grace. In this life-spanning biography, Spoto uses his close relationship with the late princess to give a more intimate look at her childhood, career, and life as princess of Monaco. In doing so, he offers up some wonderful stories about the working relationship between Grace and Alfred Hitchcock, with whom she made three movies and nearly made a fourth (Marnie, which would have marked her first film role after leaving Hollywood to marry Prince Rainier; the role went to Tippi Hedren instead). My favorite story in this biography, however, involves a running joke between Grace and Sir Alec Guinness; like many of the others, it shows off the magnificent sense of humor in an actress who was often seen as aloof.

I'll admit that I didn't know a lot about Grace Kelly before reading this book (basically that she was an actress and then a princess who died in a car crash) and I think I've only seen one of her movies (the fantastic Rear Window), but that didn't matter. Spoto created an approachable and insightful book that serves as a good introduction without patronizing novices like me. If anything, his obvious love of Grace Kelly comes through a bit too much, smoothing over troublesome situations a bit more than someone more objective might have. All in all though, this was a good book. Recommended for those with a love of old Hollywood and/or European royalty.