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.

Meet Me in Monaco

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb   384 pages

Get ready to be swept away!

It’s May 1955. International beauty and movie star Grace Kelly is attending the 8^th Annual Cannes Film Festival.  The paparazzi are out in full force, trying to snap “the” picture.  Grace is stalked by a London photographer, James Henderson, who must get that picture, whatever it is, in order to keep his job.

To avoid Henderson, Grace ducks into a small boutique, Duvall’s perfumes. The owner, Sophie, recognizes the darling of the silver screen, and hides her in her office. But sparks ignite when Sophie and James meet. Although Sophie is already in a relationship, she is drawn to James.

With the perfurmery in financial difficulties, Sophie is facing some tough decisions. Should she close the boutique in Cannes and return to her labatory? Can she continue to make perfumes with the natural fragrances of the flowers that grow on the land that surrounds the lab?

James is single, but the love of his life, his small daughter, lives in London. He hates to be away from her, but he must make a living. He leaves the perfumery with one of Sophie’s sweet-smelling business cards.

James is selected to photograph Grace Kelly’s first meeting with Prince Rainier of Monaco. James accidentally gets to meet Grace, who catches a whiff Sophie’s business card that James has in his pocket. Could this chance be the catalyst that changes their lives?

The story is told in three alternating voices: Sophie’s, James’s  and news articles writte by Angeline West, a fashion editor. Readers get to intimately know Sophie and James, learning what makes them tick and watching them grow as individuals. Grace is always in the story, but is more of a secondary character to Sophie and James.

Authors Gaynor and Webb do an excellent job in re-creating the beauty of Cannes, Monacco and the French Riveria.  I felt as if I had been there.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and had difficutly in putting it down. Therefore, “Meet Me in Monaco” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.