Grace of Monaco: An Interpretive Biography

by Steven Englund

Excellent Book

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Royalty

392 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1984

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really disorganized. He tried to organize by time periods of her life. But within those chapters he skips around a lot. It can be a tad confusing. He also flips between using "John" and "Jack" for her fathers name without any explanation (there is one other person he does that for later in the book "Christina" and "Tina". The middle of the book gets a little boring with all the talk of Monaco politics.

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very long biography -- and unfortunately rather old (it was written just after Princess Grace's death). Still, this is the best of the Grace Kelly biographies I've read and the one I'd recommend to someone who really wants to learn about her, even though it's hard to find today.

I especially appreciated how Englund not only gathers facts and data using a wide range of sources (interviews with friends and family, newspaper articles, archival materials), but also interprets it to help the reader understand why this matters and what it tells us about who she was as a person. For example, he does a nicely nuanced exploration of her complex relationship with her family in the years after her marriage and why that relationship unfolded as it did. Grace emerges as a fully formed human, with both genuine gifts and also very human flaws, not a saint or a nymphomaniac, as some other biographers seem to want to paint her.

The research into the circumstances of her death has expanded in the past decades, so that section seems thin today, but even so he is consistently thoughtful and insightful. I really enjoyed this book.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography, very well written for "celeb" book. A woman to be reckoned with! Fascinating woman; complex, courageous, moral and generous. Who wouldn't love Grace! Her name was fitting. Too bad Monaco lost their Princess so soon. She was far more wife, mother and Princess than actress, and carried it all with the tremendous class that had endeared Grace to her former peers in Hollywood. She inspired me to lengthen my stride and become more caring of my community and explore the endless possibilities of life itself. A little overkill on the history of the Principality of Monaco for some, unless you love history, which I do.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Grace of Monaco" went beyond the superficial aspects of Grace's life and delved into her inner self. I felt that the author really cared about her and went into depth, but wasn't fawning or shallow. The latter part of the book, which dealt with her 26 years as the Princess of Monaco, was especially interesting, talking about Grace's poetry reading, Garden Club, La Leche League work... basically trying to carve out her own identity even though she was not able to continue acting anymore. A very layered portrayal, this is a must-read.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember pulling this book off my grandmother's shelf and looking as the pictures when I was in elementary school. I was then that Grace Kelly become one of my favorite actresses. Since that time I have read several biographies about Grace, and this one remains one of the best I have read.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography does a good job of covering her entire life and career.

[Cws]

944.949

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed and somewhat interesting. Wikipedia filled in the most recent family updates.