The Girl in White Gloves

Very well researched and interesting. I remember Princess Grace from my childhood and knew she had been a movie star in the 1950s. I remember tv coverage when she died. Now I know the rest of the story about her life. Would recommend for insight into her life and her story. Reminds me of the recent story of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex . What stress these women live with.

Grace Kelly was a young woman on the rise in Hollywood, already with an Oscar award, when she met Rainier, the Prince of Monaco, which led her on a path she never would have scripted for herself. It is a Cinderella, fairy-tale story with more than a few veritable ugly step-sisters along the way, some of which end up inside her castle after the glorious wedding. No, Her Serene Highness’ story isn’t fully the happily-ever-after romance that a producer like Disney would have us believe. But even in adversity, there is… well… I guess you can’t avoid the pun… Grace!

Kerri Maher’s debut novel, The Kennedy Debutante got such high marks from me in 2018, that it even appeared on my “best of” list for that year. So, when I saw this available on Edelweiss, I grabbed at the chance to read it before publication, and I’m not in the least bit sorry that I did. Of course, my interest here wasn’t just because I’m old enough to have seen most of the movies she made (mind you, not so old that I saw them in movie theatres), but also because she was always somewhat of a mysterious personality, if not an enigma. The American who ends up leaving fame and fortune behind to become a princess must have been happy, and yet, her having been out of the spotlight for most of her adult life always made me feel sad for her. And I recall her tragic death, which affected me deeply, and much more than hearing of Princess Diana’s death.

What I was hoping to get with this book was a fictional way to humanize this woman that was so stunningly beautiful, and so poised, that many referred to her as an “ice princess” long before she married a real-life prince. In fact, this is precisely what Maher has given us here, and I couldn’t be happier. Maher draws Grace as a highly conflicted woman, one who had to struggle to make it in the world of stage and screen. Her struggles weren’t so much regarding her talent, which she had in spades, but rather with her family, society in general, the artistic world, and her own heart. Maher’s portrait includes both obvious and subtle inner struggles, and speculates on how she was able to cope when things didn’t go well, while allowing her to bask in the glory of her successes. This makes Grace into a real human being, with all her flaws and blemishes that almost never showed up on camera. It makes me wonder how this woman survived without becoming addicted to alcohol or anti-depressants, because some of the trials Maher describes could have easily pushed her down one of those rabbit holes. That certainly makes me admire her even more than I already did.

I should mention, however, that I did feel that perhaps Maher added a bit too much detail of Kelly’s earlier life. In particular, her romances prior to meeting Rainier could have been shorted a tad, to push things forward faster. I say this because as we got to the part of the story where she goes to Monaco to meet him for the first time, the pace of this book seemed to go up a notch. Not that it was slow before then, but there were a couple of times when I really wanted Maher to move into that part of her life a little quicker. It did help that Maher inserted later sections of the Princess’s life strategically into the earlier parts, but these just made me want to hear more about her life with her prince even more.

Mind you, as I noted above, some of the dilemmas of the Princess’s later life felt very depressing, but Maher did an excellent job of guiding her through these difficult periods, and the descriptions of the incredibly beautiful scenery helped lighten some of the darker passages. In fact, it was almost exciting to read these heavier, fictional passages that explored what was obviously such a sheltered and privileged life. On the other hand, as I got closer to the end of this book, I wanted the pace to slow down, hoping not to get to the inevitable close to this very special woman’s life, but alas… all good things must come to an end. And here I have to say that if Maher hadn’t made me cry while reading the author’s notes, I might have rated this book half a star lower. As it was, the slower pacing in the early part of the book, and the one mistake I found (Grace “high fived” her daughters several years before that became a thing), were eclipsed by the ending of this novel. So, once again, I’m giving Maher a full five out of five stars and I warmly recommend this book to lovers of biographical, historical, women’s fiction.

The stunning and very human story of a beloved icon… Full of nuance and poignancy — this novel is gorgeous.

A perfect jewel of a novel. While this is very much Kelly’s story, it’s Maher’s broader themes of challenging expectations and finding one’s voice that set this book apart. She has definitely earned her spot on my auto-read list.

Elegant and romantic… an engrossing journey of transformation, complete with familial tension, betrayal, and redemption.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Girl in the White Gloves is an interesting take on Grace Kelly’s life. The fictionalized version portrays a rather unhappy and mildly rebellious young woman whose rash decisions land her in an unhappy marriage with a controlling man and a less than perfect life. The details of Grace’s life in Hollywood and Monaco along with her numerous wealthy and famous friends were entertaining. My idea of Grace Kelly definitely changed after reading this book, and the story intrigued me enough to do some research on the real Grace Kelly and her life. Again, I’ll caution readers that this is a fictionalized version of her life.

This ARC copy was received from Berkley and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. The above thoughts and opinions are wholly my own.

3.5
I am a life-long lover of classic films.

It started when I was a girl watching old movies on our black and white television. In those days, I preferred Gene Autry, Andy Hardy, and Ma and Pa Kettle. When we moved to Detroit I discovered Bill Kennedy’s Showtime. I was hooked all summer long. Jimmy Stewart became my favorite actor, but I watched swashbucklers, too.

My folks didn’t have money to take us to movie theaters but we did go to the drive-in theater. When the sun went down, I was supposed to fall asleep on the back seat. Instead, I was riveted to the movie. The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Birds, and Marnie were some of the most memorable.

I became a Hitchcock fan, watching his television series, and I even had a book of scary stories with Hitch on the cover. Later in life, I watched every television broadcast of his movies. And that is how I first saw Grace Kelley–in Rear Window and To Catch a Thief.

My husband’s favorite movie is High Noon, starring Kelley in her first movie role. And he was a Clark Gable fan back in the day, so I saw Kelley in Mogambo.

It was not until a few years ago that I saw Kelley in her Oscar-winning performance in The Country Girl. There was this beautiful, young actress made up plain and dowdy, her emotion so concentrated I could see the flames shooting from her eyes. Wowzer! This was not the elegant model offering Cary Grant a chance to handle her jewels.

I knew that Kelley was from Philadelphia. We had driven on Kelley Drive. And I knew that Kelley had died in a tragic car accident of unknown origin. And that she had married a prince and had two beautiful daughters who were sometimes the news.

That’s it, folks. That was all I knew. And what better way to learn more than by reading Wikipedia and IMBD—kidding. What better way to learn more than by reading a historical fiction novel that imagines the hidden stories?

Several times I skipped over The Girl in White Gloves (PLEASE–no more ‘girl’ titles, people!) by Keri Maher when I saw it on NetGalley, but each time it caught my attention. I try hard to keep my requests in line as I am committed to doing justice to every title I get. I caved–what’s one more book to the pile?

In the first chapter, I learned that Kelley had been offered the title role in Hitchcock’s Marnie and was unable to accept! MARNIE! The movie that I watched from the back seat of the car, that disturbed me and made me return to it again and again to ‘get it’. I read Winston Graham’s Marnie a few years back after a chance to see the movie at a local repertoire theater when Tippi Hendron visited and told the audience about the movie. How could a princess accept a role about a troubled woman leading a double life, with a hatred of men and a penchant for theft? Who was made love to by a young Sean Connery?

Okay. That was enough to keep me turning pages.

In a few chapters, I learned that Kelley had played Tracy Lord in a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story! One of my very favorite movies! How did I get to be in my sixth decade without having seen High Society? Arrggh!

At the end of the story, I learned that at age forty-seven, Kelley became involved with poetry festivals, reciting poems! Including Maya Angelou.

I might also mention that Kelley was a knitter.

Maher admits to a dearth of sources for critical times in Kelley’s life, like her long correspondence with Prince Rainier after their first meeting in Monaco. She ‘took many liberties’ for ‘dramatic compression’, which translates to providing a ‘good read’, and she speculates on the details of her relationships with men, her family, and the cause of her death. Hey, it’s fiction. Get over it.

The story hits on all of the major events and films of Kelley’s career. It also portrays Kelley as a woman driven to achieve excellence but conflicted by parental expectations that a woman’s goal is to marry and bear children. You’ve had a bit of freedom, played make-believe, now it’s time to grow up and become a responsible adult as a real June Cleaver, supporting your husband and bearing his children. Well, that role did not suit Kelley; Maher takes us into the marriage bed and it was positively Arctic.

Well, I gave up wanting to be a princess before I was five years old. Between Kelley and Princesses Diana and Sarah, it is quite clear the downsides far outweigh the perks.

I read a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Kerri Maher’s latest novel skillfully delves beyond Grace Kelly’s famously cool ice-blue exterior to reveal the passionate, blood-red heart beneath. Kelly’s complicated history as a dismissed daughter, a rising star, an ambivalent princess — it all comes together in Maher’s compulsively readable portrait of a woman hungry to find her place in the world.

Grace Kelly is an American fairy tale, an American actress turned Princess. This book tells a story of her life behind the scenes of a beautiful actress turned princess who is just looking for happiness in life. She trades in being an actress to being the Princess of Monaco and struggles to find her place in the world. I enjoyed this book and learned many things I didn’t know about Grace. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.