Janowitz, Brenda. The Grace Kelly Dress. Graydon House. Mar. 2020. 336p. ISBN 9781525804595. pap. $16.99. F
When actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco, her wedding dress was made of four pieces: a bodice, a skirt, a cummerbund, and an underskirt. This made for a dress that could fit very well—and be easily reworked by a seamstress to keep up with changing fashions. In 1958, Rose is working as the protégée of a couture wedding dress designer, sewing a “Grace Kelly” dress for a bride who would rather just elope. In 2020, Rachel, aka Rocky, is a game-app developer who is getting married to her perfect man. She just wishes she didn’t have to wear her mother’s passed-down “Grace Kelly” dress, unfortunately modified with once fashionable “Princess Diana” sleeves. In the 1980s, we see Joan, Rocky’s mother, coming to terms with wearing her own mother’s wedding dress.
VERDICT Janowitz’s (The Dinner Party) fun, frothy tale of women falling in love and dealing with family and tradition is tied up in the symbolism of an heirloom wedding dress that each bride tries to make her own. That iconic dress is a starring character as each woman finds her happiness. [See Prepub Alert, 9/16/19.]—Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., IL

Maher, Kerri. The Girl in White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly. Berkley. Feb. 2020. 384p. ISBN 9780451492074. $26. F
The life of Grace Kelly (1929–82), with all of its twists and turns, comes alive in Maher’s (The Kennedy Debutante) fictional biography. Beginning as a struggling actress, Grace works to prove to her Irish family in Philadelphia that she can be successful. Her career finally begins to soar when she’s cast in High Noon, then when she becomes one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s muses, although she always misses working onstage, in front of a live audience. Along the way she falls in love with men, both suitable and not, ranging from starving artists to designer Oleg Cassini. When she finally meets Prince Rainier of Monaco, her life as a princess begins. Grace Kelly’s life was not always a happy one—her life as an actress and then as a princess was often full of turmoil, hard work, and sadness. ­
VERDICT With royal families once again in the gossip columns, this will be a good choice for readers curious about the inner life of a royal. It’s an absorbing take on a complicated life.—Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., IL