HANK
PHILLIPPI RYAN: I mean, look at this photo. Do you absolutely swoon? Grace Kelly
has got to be one of the most glamorous but mysterious women ever—
from her
iconic roles with the likes of Cary Grant
and Jimmy
Stewart
her
terrifying “relationship” with Alfred Hitchcock
to her
effortless fashion sense to her fairy-tale-seeming wedding to the Prince! Of Monaco
and then
her children, and her tragic death—
It seems
like the stuff of fiction, doesn’t it? And now, it is. The wonderful Heather Webb (under the
talented and confident hands of Heather
Webb and Hazel Gaynor) bring her to
fabulous fictional life is their Meet Me In Monaco—a brand new book with non-stop
buzz.
Where did
this book come from? Well, of course. We
have it for you first- hand.
Meet
Me in Monaco: A Novel of Grace Kelly's Royal Wedding
Set in the 1950s against
the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and unforgettable wedding to
Prince Rainier, MEET ME IN MONACO is a novel about passion, fate, and second
chances in an evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur. It's about
legacy, about the challenge of artisans to stay afloat in an ever-modernizing
world, and it's about taking chances.
The story revolves around the
intersecting lives of the future princess, a passionate French perfumer, and a
loveable British press photographer. As a summer book it is deliberately full
of 1950s glamour, and while there is romance at the heart of the story (there’s
a wedding between a prince and a princess after all!), it is also about so much
more.
We especially loved
developing our protagonist, Sophie Duval, and her world as a struggling
perfumer. Sophie was desperate to preserve her father’s legacy in Grasse,
Provence - the perfume capital of the world- and she is tested by everyone she
loves to see just how far she's willing to see her vision come to life.
Capturing all the evocative scents on the page as she hones her craft was great
fun to write from the fragrant tuberose and night jasmine, to the salty breezes
wafting over the rocky soil of Provence. La Belle France is all about appealing
to the senses, n'est-ce pas? It was the perfect backdrop for blooming love,
both for Sophie and James, as well as for Grace and her prince.
We also wanted to delve
into what influence a woman like Grace Kelly might have had on those who came
into contact with her, however briefly. We wanted to understand the very
ordinary people caught up in a most extraordinary love-affair between an
American actress and a little-known Prince.
We wanted to highlight the people
who surrounded Grace in the months, weeks and days leading up to her wedding,
and later, who were deeply affected by the untimely death of one the most loved
stars of Hollywood’s golden era. We wanted to illustrate how Grace’s kindness,
influence, and courage touched the lives of many around her. The question of
legacy, in our book, takes on several meanings here, for all of our characters.
Our story began with the
basics, however--lots of research. Research is everything for a historical
novelist, and between books and articles, old newsreels and newspaper reports,
we discovered a tantalizing detail about Miss Kelly’s wedding dress being
packed for its journey from New York to Monaco amid rolls of tissue paper
scented with a perfume that had been especially made for her wedding day.
Again, our novelists’ minds saw an intriguing angle to the story. Who was the
perfumer who made that scent? And who were the harried photographers chasing
the perfect shot of the most famous woman in the world, and who caused near
riots in the days leading up to the wedding?
This is where our
fictional protagonists—Sophie Duval: a passionate perfumer, struggling to
secure her father’s legacy, and James Henderson: a press photographer searching
for far more than Hollywood glamour through his lens—were inspired by real
people and roles that were connected to Grace and the royal wedding in
surprising ways.
Our novelists’ gaze also wandered behind the scenes of those
famous images of Princess Grace on her wedding day. Who was the woman behind
the Hollywood smile? What were her private thoughts behind the many public
appearances?
In writing Meet Me in
Monaco, we discovered that Grace Kelly was far more than an icon of the
silver screen, or the Princess she became. She was also a dear friend, a
devoted daughter, a loving wife and doting mother.
Through the lens of Sophie
and James and their proximity to Grace Kelly during her transition from
Hollywood star to Princess Grace of Monaco, we hope to have honored her memory,
and brought her story to a new generation of fans, as well as showing a
different side of her to those of us who, like us, have long admired her.
We are so thrilled to
see Meet Me in Monaco resonating with our readers, and we celebrated when
we discovered it was named one of InStyle's best books to put in your
tote bag for the summer, as well as one of Popsugar’s best books of
July! We hope you'll
enjoy your trip to the Cote d'Azur, over the rolling fields of Grasse, and the
beautiful cliffs of Prince Grace's Monaco, too!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Sigh.
Shall we talk about Grace Kelly? What’s your favorite movie? Or story about
her?
And a copy of MEET ME IN MONACO to one lucky US commenter!
Hazel Gaynor is the New York Times
and internationally bestselling author of six historical novels including The
Girl Who Came Home and, most recently, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter. She
was the recipient of the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award, and
shortlisted for the 2017 Irish Book Awards. She lives in Ireland with her
husband and children.
Heather Webb is the internationally
bestselling and award-winning author of six historical novels set in France,
including Becoming Josephine and Rodin’s Lover, and the upcoming Ribbons of
Scarlet, Oct 2019. She was the recipient of the WFWA 2018 STAR award. She lives
in New England with her children and husband.
Set in the 1950s against the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind
romance and unforgettable wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, New York Times
bestselling author Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb take the reader on an
evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur in this page-turning novel
of passion, fate and second chances...
Movie
stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace
Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When
struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique to fend
off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged
between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches
across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy.
James
Henderson cannot forget his brief encounter with Sophie Duval. Despite his
guilt at being away from his daughter, he takes an assignment to cover the wedding
of the century, sailing with Grace Kelly’s wedding party on the SS
Constitution from New York. In Monaco, as wedding fever soars and
passions and tempers escalate, James and Sophie—like Princess Grace—must
ultimately decide what they are prepared to give up for love.
