All I knew about Grace Kelly was that she was the Princess of Monaco and lived a fairy tale life. Reading the fictionalized account of her life let's you know it wasn't like a fairy tale.

Berkley Publishing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published today.

She lived a quiet life at home but when she went away to college things changed. She found she enjoyed acting and she also enjoyed men. She pursued an acting career and got one. She had several casual affairs that usually ended when she found out they were still married. When she found one she really loved, her parents wouldn't let her marry him. So she moved on.

She had quite a few acting roles with older established male actors. She enjoyed acting but her family didn't approve of that either. Then she met Prince Rainier. He's good looking, charming, and gentle with her. She doesn't expect to be asked to be his bride, but she says yes.

Life is different for her now. She's Royalty and has no privacy. She finds he wants to tell her what to do. The first unfortunate thing is that he doesn't want her to act anymore. She has three children with him and they are her life.

The longer they are married, the more they disagree. She'd leave him but the contract she signed said the children would remain with him. She bides her time. She plans to move when the children are old enough to visit without his permission and she has another movie she will audition for. She's found a happy ending but it's not meant to be...

This is a fascinating and captivating book about Grace Kelly. Though it is a fictionalized telling of her life, it was certainly well researched and well written. I had been a fan of Grace Kelly and remember watching her movies as a young girl with my mom and reading about her life as a princess and marriage to Prince Ranier. I found this story quite interesting and sad as well. Grace Kelly made quite a sacrifice when she became Princess of Monaco and can see how difficult it could be for her at times. And even before becoming a princess, she had a few struggles as well before making it big in the world of movies. She was such a beautiful woman. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

I have always found Grace Kelly to be fascinating. She was so impossibly glamorous, first as a movie star, and then as an actual princess! Plus one of her daughters (Stephanie) is my age. So when I saw an historical fiction about her life, you bet I requested it!

I found this book to be quite enjoyable, with many references to all the many lovers, and famous people in Grace Kelly's life. But I couldn't give this a perfect rating. It must be really difficult making a story out of someone's actual life. And everything leading up to her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco was filled with tension and drama. But after that, the "story" had nowhere to really go.

What I Liked:
A Look at Old New York & Hollywood:

I was right there with Grace when she was a young girl in big old NYC. The author catpured how exciting it was to be young and full of promise in a big city.

When she goes to Los Angeles to film movies, she also sees the particular charm of Southern California. The warm weather, and the more relaxed atmosphere, must have been such a breath of fresh air for a young woman like Grace.

Social Limitations for Women:

The novel also did a very good job of showing how women navigated the sticky world of men in power. Grace learned from a young age to not make a fuss when talking to a man. She saw (sadly) how fragile men's egos were, and that it did no good to directly demand what she wanted. But she found other ways to assert herself. She insisted on reading all her contracts, and carefully negotiated on the parts that mattered to her the most. And while she was affected by her parents strict Catholic morals, she didn't let that stop her from letting love into her life.

What I Was Mixed About:
Historical Details:

I really didn't get a sense of the historical time periods in this book. Yes, there were many references to the clothing of the time (after all, Grace Kelly was a fashion icon). And there were plenty of references to how women were treated by men. These were explored thoroughly.

But this story spans from 1949 to 1982. I never got the sense that anything changed in those 32 years. Think of all the innovations, and social changes that happened during that time. I would have really liked to have seen Grace react to some of those changes.

What I Didn't Like:
Story:

As I said in the introduction, everything leading up to her marriage to the Prince was filled with excitement and tension. But then...

The only tension was in her marriage with Rainier, because they had grown apart over the years. We all know that she never made another film after she became a Princess. Why toy with the reader to make us believe she would make another movie? It made Grace look naive to say that she didn't know what she was giving up. And after creating such a portrait of a strong-minded woman, I found this hard to accept.

This historical fiction release is Maher's second novel. Her first was 'The Kennedy Debutante'. This one is a fictionalized accounting of the life of Grace Kelly, from her time as a young acting student in her teens until her 1982 death in a car accident at age 52. Her romantic dalliances, her early career triumphs, Oscar win and subsequent marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco are all chronicled. The author shows how much she loved her chosen career and how much she gave up when she became a princess, as well as her difficulties with her father. While some of the story admittedly springs from the author's imagination, the book allows us to imagine what the life of this famous woman might have been like. This entertaining story is a good recommendation for fans of such books as 'The Paris Wife' or 'A Well Behaved Woman'. It releases in hardcover and has a Goodreads rating of 3.78/5 from 130 readers.

I came across this one and thought it would be interesting to learn a a little more about Grace Kelly and the charmed life she seemed to have led. But there is a lot more to her life than what most didn’t know. In this fictional telling of her life we get to see her dreams, fears and much more.

Grace was born into a wealthy family but had dreams of being on the stage much to the dismay of her parents but it was in her blood, she loved it and who could blame her. But she soon finds herself on the big screen with some amazingly famous people. Her journey was filled with plenty of ups and downs and we get to follow her on her journey through career let downs, failed relationships and self doubt. All she wanted from life was success and to make her family proud which didn’t come easily. When she finds love with Prince Ranier, she thinks she’s struck gold and becomes a princess but it is isn’t without it’s problems either. She certainly led a life that was filled with fame and fortune but at what cost? Her family? Her Career as an actress? When I reached the end, all I wanted was for her to find some happiness. And while I enjoyed Kelly’s time in Monaco, it was her life in Hollywood that I enjoyed the most.

The Girl in the White Gloves gives a glimpse of what Kelly’s life was like behind the scenes and I think fans of Grace Kelly will enjoy this one.

I enjoy reading this book, Grace Kelly was always the most gracious in poise and style. author took a few writers liberties. It was interesting and memorable.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t know much about Grace Kelly prior to picking up The Girl in the White Gloves, but I had seen it cross-promoted with the Hazel Gaynor/Heather Webb book about her wedding last year that I loved, so I was excited by the premise of The Girl in the White Gloves.

Maher perfectly balances fact and fiction, presenting a depiction of Grace’s life as a movie star, then as a royal. With the more recent stories of Princess Diana (who appears in the book towards the end) and Megan Markle drawing comparisons to her story, I enjoyed seeing the little ways in which her life paralleled theirs, and where they diverged.

There is some time-jumping, especially initially, with a bit of going back and forth between later in her marriage and the years she was in her prime as an actress, but I like that it helped to form a full picture of her life and the juxtaposition of the two, as well as showing how she found a compromise in maintaining her Hollywood connections even if she could not continue to pursue acting.

I did feel a little disengaged from the prose, and some bits, like the Diana moment, seemed to be an unsubtle winking at the audience, especially when you think about the fact that Grace died not long after Diana married Charles. And while there are some changes Maher mentions in the author’s note that I think made the story work overall, there’s one where Maher fudges timelines a bit so Grace and Albie can have an exchange about the upcoming Star Wars film. Out of context, it’s cool, and given the fact that she worked with Alec Guinness, it’s a lot of fun. But it all felt so superfluous and a weird attempt to try to make the royals relatable.

This isn’t a bad book, but I just felt so confused by what the point was at times. Sometimes, it demands intelligence to follow a story with different timelines, other times there are these unneeded references that feel so juvenile. However, you love Grace Kelly and reading fiction surrounding the lives of real life royals, I think it’s still worth a try for what it is.

I got excited about this book very early on. Part research and part speculation, I thoroughly enjoyed the way that Kerri Maher told the story of Grace Kelly. It was a well-written and fascinating to read. For a person who is mildly royally obsessed, it hit some sweet spots!

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

As a HUGE fan of Grace Kelly I knew I was going to read this book come hell or high water. Luckily neither needed I just had to ask. I have read a number of biographies about Grace Kelly and know her story as much as the next fan does so I know that a number of liberties were taken with the writing of this story but then it is not being published as a biography so I was fine with the liberties and believed that maybe someone who reads this will go back and get a biography of her life and read the real Grace.

That being said the story is wonderful. The romance of Hollywood is not all we believe and even though we thought of her life as perfect it was far from it. And her life as a Princess was not all that wonderful either.

The reader flows through this book as Grace Kelly flowed on screen. The writing is great and as someone who can picture Grace Kelly in not only her fairy tale wedding dress but her beautiful “every day” clothes I could picture her on every page that was read.

As a huge fan of Grace Kelly I was so pleased to be able to read this book. I loved how author Kerri Maher took a little license and filled in where we can only guess as to what was on Grace's mind or what happened behind the scenes of her life.. She blended it so well it became completely plausible. You get the feeling this is quite possibly how things happened in her life.. It's often hard for an author of historical fiction to portray someone who is extremely well known AND well loved, without raising the ire of the reader or fan, but here you can only feel that her life was not always that of a princess. This would make for a wonderful book club discussion and I can imagine watching To Catch a Thief when the members attend the book club location. I know I felt like watching old films and footage of Grace. She was an intriguing person and having a glimpse into her inner world was eye opening and heartbreaking at the same time..

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "The Girl in the White Gloves" by Kerri Maher, Berkley, February 25, 2020

Kerri Maher, Author of "The Girl in the White Gloves" has written a memorable, riveting, and intriguing novel. The Genres for this Novel is Historical Fiction and Fiction. At times, the author writes this so it feels like a biography of the life of Grace Kelly. The novel is set in Philadelphia, New York, Hollywood, and Monaco, where Grace Kelly is now "Princess Grace of Monaco". The timeline for this novel is set around 1947 through 1952, I appreciate that Kerri Maher vividly describes Grace Kelly, the other actors and actresses and her family and landscape in Monaco.  The author describes Grace Kelly as an independent, determined, yet lonely and insecure woman.

I have always been intrigued by the lovely actress and was fascinated to find that the things that Grace wanted she had to work for. Her wealthy parents weren't encouraging of her goals, and her father seemed to show favoritism to the other siblings. I was intrigued to know that Grace preferred to be on the stage rather than performing in movies or television.  It was wonderful to note that there were some producers, directors, and actors that had her back and gave her the emotional support that she needed. 

What girl doesn't dream of being a Princess? Grace Kelly had the opportunity to marry the Prince of Monaco, which sounds like a dream come true. To become a Princess, Grace gave had to give up her dreams of "Hollywood Royalty".  Make no mistake, Grace was talented and accomplished many things in her country, which made the people love her. 

I would highly recommend this thought-provoking book to readers that appreciate Historical Fiction, and the intriguing life of Grace Kelly.

We all know who Grace Kelly is. She was on the big screen as an Academy Award-winning actress and big news when she married Prince Rainier and left the glamour of Hollywood to be a real-life princess. It is not surprising to learn that for Grace, her life after the wedding was not the happy-ever-after she might have expected. Real life as royalty is hard and requires sacrifices. This book from Maher is so timely and relevant to news we have seen regarding the British royal family. As Maher reveals in her Author's Notes, this is somewhat in the middle of the continuum between the extremes of complete fiction and biography. As with "The Kennedy Debutante," we get an intimate look inside the dilemmas women face in their time and circumstances. The pacing was a bit choppy, but it was fascinating to see the famous folks that shared the historical stage with Grace. I liked it and am looking forward to discovering more books about her.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I expected a different book based on the cover and description so I ended up a little dissatisfied at the conclusion. I’m not especially interested in Grace Kelly, American actress. She is just one of many beautiful woman who have fought their way to get the roles they wanted. I realize the author needed to set the stage but fully half of the book was about her career. We didn’t get to Monaco until the second half of the book, and to my frustration, two chapters from the future were inserted into her American story which threw dirt on the princess story I was anxious to read about.

That said, the writing is breezy and easy to read. The most interesting part of her American story was the relationship with her family and in particular her father. I applaud her for maintaining her vision and goals under his public disapproval of her and praise for his other children. I mean, when she won the Academy Award, the best he could say was that always thought it would be his daughter Peggy who would receive that recognition. How vindictive!

Finally, the part I waited 200 pages for - Monaco, and what a disappointment. It was about how she felt and her stilted relationship with her husband, their withering romance and her flailing role as mother. I wanted more about what she did and clearly she did a lot. I wanted to know about her gardens and the details of her art. She brought the hospital from a mediocre medical facility into one that was state of the art. More please! How did she do it and who worked with her to make it happen? She organized galas, no mean fete, but who did she employ and how did they look? That’s the stuff I wanted to know about and still do.

I think she recognized that her trying to change Rainier was tearing her up so instead “she swore to devote herself to her children as she had to the stage and then the screen. Mother, wife, princess....they were all roles, even if she hadn’t fully digested the script when she accepted the part.” Was she happy when she died. I’d like to think so.

The Girl in White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly was an entertaining fictionalized account of Grace Kelly's life.

This book kind of made me sad because I had always thought that Prince Ranier swept Grace off her feet and she willingly gave up her stardom to become Princess of Monaco. That's not exactly true...

The account of Grace's life goes back and forth from the 50s to the 70s. We immediately see (in the 70s) that she is not completely fulfilled by her life as a Princess and her relationship with Ranier. But then we go back to the beginning, of Grace as a Barbazon model. What I didn't realize is that she really worked hard at acting, taking classes and studying under some great acting teachers. She has a lot of relationships and a lot of success. Even though she didn't realize that she was a success. She had no desire to do movies--she wanted to be a Broadway star. But when that didn't materialize, she decided to give Hollywood a try.

Apparently, the author had to pick and choose which relationships to include, but still, I thought that part went on a big long. A lot of familiar stars and familiar movies were mentioned, and I got a bit tired of it. (But was fascinated by her encounter with Princess Diana.) Maybe if Maher had jumped back to the 70s a bit more in the middle of the book that would have broken it up a bit.

However, I still really enjoyed The Girl in White Gloves. But as I said, my dreams have been shattered. Grace was really forced to give up acting and risked losing her children if she ever tried to move in that direction. Ranier turned out to be quite the cad, and the storybook romance ended fairly quickly.

The Girl in White Gloves is well researched, and the author points out some historical inaccuracies in her notes at the end. Well worth the read if you are interested in Kelly, or the life of a princess.

I love Grace Kelly so I was excited to read this book. To be honest, I found her to be like any one else. Her parents didn't care for most of her choices then she married a prince and wasn't happy with that. I guess I wanted to keep the picture of Grace Kelly the actress.

A young woman fights for her right to steer her acting career, only to give it up for love. The traits she cultivated as an actress, though, help her in her new role as a member of a royal family. Author Kerri Maher novelizes the life of 1950s star Grace Kelly in the humdrum new book The Girl in White Gloves.

It’s the early 1950s, and Grace Kelly is living in New York City. She knows she has what it takes to succeed on Broadway, but her efforts at a big break on the Great White Way yield little. The handful of roles she’s done don’t help her crack the theater code.

She refuses to give up, even if her parents think she’s wasting her time. Her father, a triple gold medalist in Olympic rowing, just doesn’t understand why she spends her days on something as frivolous as playing pretend for other people. Her mother wishes Grace would stop flitting around and settle down with a nice young man to take on what she thinks are the most important roles of all: wife and mother. Grace ignores both, even as their constant criticism hurts her.

Much to her surprise, Hollywood comes calling. The Broadway stage may not have much room for her, but television and film sets are wide open. Grace finds success in performing in live television dramas, which lead to attention from some of the biggest names in the movie business. She finds herself in the company of actors like Bing Crosby and directors like Alfred Hitchcock; she also finds romance with up-and-coming artists like fashion designer Oleg Cassini.

Grace’s star begins to rise at a rapid speed; then she’s introduced to Prince Rainier of Monaco. The friendship develops into a love affair, and Rainier comes to the States to visit Grace’s family. By then she believes she’s ready for life as a princess and his wife; when his proposal comes, it’s a relief. Her burning passion to succeed in acting acts as a counterbalance to her deep-seated desire for a home and family of her own.

What she doesn’t expect is the about-face her life takes once she marries Rainier. He bans her films in Monaco and forbids her from acting in any future projects. Despite persistent requests from directors, Grace turns down script after script. Her relationship with Rainier begins to erode, but Grace reconciles herself to the fact that she’s made her choices and looks for new ways to fulfill the creative energy that still pulses inside her.

Author Kerri Maher reveals in an author’s note the depth of research she did into Grace Kelly’s life to write the book. While some primary resources (such as the letters that Kelly and Rainier exchanged) weren’t available, Maher read other materials and spoke to many people connected to the actress. Her diligence in trying to capture every moment of Kelly’s career and life as royalty afterward, however, tilt toward an overly sympathetic look at Kelly’s challenges.

Her family are depicted as mostly negative influences in her life. The men with whom she shares relationships all seem to fall short of what Kelly deserves. Her life as a princess is full of hand-wringing over the forfeiture of her acting career and a husband who (by the book’s presentation of it) becomes distant and indifferent toward her within days of their wedding. Given all these “woe is me” moments, it’s a wonder Kelly made the mark she did in Hollywood.

Maher’s choice for a nonlinear timeline, too, might confuse readers. The book jumps back and forth between her early days sharing an apartment with other actor friends and her time in Monaco. It’s unclear why the novel needed this approach. The addition of the year at the start of many chapters doesn’t really anchor them in any meaningful way.

The book succeeds in showing Kelly as a forward-thinking, proactive force in her own career. Despite her family’s disapproval—or, more likely, because of it—Kelly fought for every opportunity and more. She negotiated her own contracts and took charge of her personal life when romantic relationships didn’t make sense. Readers familiar with Kelly’s onscreen persona will be delighted to know that she was no shrinking violet in real life.

Those interested in fictional versions of the lives of celebrities will enjoy this book; otherwise, I recommend readers Borrow The Girl in White Gloves.

I was thrilled to be able to recommend this book to a guest on my podcast, What Should I Read Next?, back in November because of her interest in Grace Kelly. You can find our conversation here: https://modernmrsdarcy.com/209-episode/

Let me be clear that my rating has nothing to do with the writing, research, or readability of this book. All were great. My problem with this book was totally on me! I have a very lofty opinion of Princess Grace of Monaco, and her whirlwind courtship and marriage to Prince Rainier. This book really deflated that balloon! I'm sure that I'm wrong in my opinion, but I didn't want to discover that. This book definitely exposed lots of cracks in the life of Grace, both before she married the prince, and certainly after. Therefore, even though it's a good book, it just wasn't enjoyable FOR ME.

Definitely a great historical fiction read, but steer clear if you don't want your fairy tale princess story to be destroyed.

Grace Kelly was the epitome of style and class, but in this historical fiction account of her life we see the true story behind the fairy tale life she seemed to lead. Born into a wealthy family, Grace was encouraged to achieve success in the things that mattered to her parents, athletics and social status. Finding that her aptitude lay elsewhere, Grace struck out on her own, moving to New York to try and have a career on stage. Eventually, she followed the call to Hollywood and just as her star seemed to have risen, she walked away to marry a real-life prince. With each step she sought independence and control of her own life, only to by thwarted by those around her, who thought they knew what was better for her.

This is a well-researched and beautifully descriptive story of a twentieth century icon; one we all thought we knew, but we only saw what we wanted to see. Though surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Monaco, Grace was trapped in an unhappy marriage, unable to leave because she would lose not just her privileged life, but her very children. Maher presents us with the unhappy reality of Grace Kelly, her bittersweet career, her disappointments, but also her indomitable spirit as she tries to carve out a rewarding and satisfying life for herself.

This story seems very relevant to today’s headlines dealing with the royal family in Great Britain. Well written with a great sense of time and place. It is a satisfying read and one which will appeal to royal watchers or fans of old Hollywood. I highly recommend this one.

Grace Kelly is a name that brings to mind images that most anyone could describe. A woman who was held to an extreme standard for poise and physical appearance, yet I didn't know much about her life. This book although a fictional tale, pulls back the curtain on Grace Kelly's years before she became a legit princess and then through the transition and into her years as a parent and a full fledged princess.

As much as I loved this book, there were moments where the pacing fell off for me and I felt as though it dragged a bit. I wouldn't have minded the book being shortened just a little and getting more interesting glimpses into moments in her life. There were parts that felt repetitive and redundant.

Reading this book at this moment in time felt ironic with Harry and Meghan's changing of their royal intentions. Grace made me think of Meghan in her inability to please the people of Monaco due to her "americaness" and just wanting to serve them, but also missing a piece of her life without her ability to pursue the career dreams that she had held for so long. I really read this book with Meghan in the back of my mind.

This book made me go and look at my TBR and look for some more Grace Kelly books to see her through a few more perspectives.