jjares reviewed Grace Kelly: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Actors) on + 3297 more book reviews
Hourly History writes great film star biographies; I thought this one wasn't quite as good as most of the others. The author told a great deal about Grace Kelly's early life and her shyness and feelings of inferiority. She was from a wealthy Irish-Catholic family and was successful from a young age. Grace certainly was very different from her chaste persona touted by the film production studios.
Where I think the book drops off is after Grace's marriage. It seemed to jump from her immediate pregnancies to losing her life in a car wreck. I wondered how well she was accepted by the citizens of Monaco since she was never successful in learning enough French to converse with the populace. I would think that just that one issue (inability to converse in French) would put a serious damper on Grace's success as a royal. After all, she had more than 20 years to learn the language.
I was also surprised that the book did not raise the issue that Stephanie was driving the day of the wreck. It was widely reported; but not until well after the fact. Overall, I learned a great deal about the star -- in about an hour.
Where I think the book drops off is after Grace's marriage. It seemed to jump from her immediate pregnancies to losing her life in a car wreck. I wondered how well she was accepted by the citizens of Monaco since she was never successful in learning enough French to converse with the populace. I would think that just that one issue (inability to converse in French) would put a serious damper on Grace's success as a royal. After all, she had more than 20 years to learn the language.
I was also surprised that the book did not raise the issue that Stephanie was driving the day of the wreck. It was widely reported; but not until well after the fact. Overall, I learned a great deal about the star -- in about an hour.
