Review: The Girl in White Gloves by Kerri Maher

Title: The Girl in White Gloves
Author: Kerri Maher 
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Berkley
Publish Date: February 25, 2020
Source: Publisher

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A life in snapshots…

Grace knows what people see. She’s the Cinderella story. An icon of glamor and elegance frozen in dazzling Technicolor. The picture of perfection. The girl in white gloves.

A woman in living color…

But behind the lens, beyond the panoramic views of glistening Mediterranean azure, she knows the truth. The sacrifices it takes for an unappreciated girl from Philadelphia to defy her family and become the reigning queen of the screen. The heartbreaking reasons she trades Hollywood for a crown. The loneliness of being a princess in a fairy tale kingdom that is all too real.
Hardest of all for her adoring fans and loyal subjects to comprehend, is the harsh reality that to be the most envied woman in the world does not mean she is the happiest. Starved for affection and purpose, facing a labyrinth of romantic and social expectations with more twists and turns than Monaco’s infamous winding roads, Grace must find her own way to fulfillment. But what she risks--her art, her family, her marriage—she may never get back."

My Two Cents: 

"The Girl in the White Gloves" is a historical fiction look at Grace Kelly's life. Girl from Philadelphia, golden goddess of the silver screen, and princess - she was all three of these things and so much more. The epitome of charm and grace (could she have been named any more perfectly???), she turned heads no matter where she went. This book goes behind the taglines to show us a woman trying to figure out who she wants to be. This book shows that even fairy tales can have some very dark corners and even things that seem perfect, often are not.

Grace Kelly has always been fascinating to me. I LOVE "Rear Window" and that was really my first introduction to her! I'm also super fascinated by any and all royalty. Between these two things, Grace really drew me in. I loved how this book gave another side to Grace's story and allowed me as a reader to step into her shoes and see what she might have been going through behind the scenes. Maher creates such a realistic picture of a well-known figure. We see Grace's rise to stardom and grappling with what it would mean to give acting up forever for love. We see how even a princess's life is not always without its thorns. I feel like I really got to know Grace through this book.

Maher's writing is great here. Throughout the book, we see a lot of different kinds of yearning (oh, such a human emotion) from Grace. She wants to be famous. Then she wants love. Towards the end of the book, there is a really poignant scene where she is comforting a young Princess Diana (really one of my very favorites) while at the same time reflecting on her life and grappling with getting older. For those that already love Grace Kelly and those who haven't had the pleasure to know her, this book is a terrific pick!