Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures

Released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Grace Kelly's death, this stunning if poorly organized tribute to the legendary actress showcases not only her brief but magnificent Hollywood career but also her life as a princess, wife and mother. Once past the bland forward by Tommy Hilfiger and a stilted biographical essay tracing Kelly's life from her childhood in Philadelphia to her death on the treacherous roads of the French Riviera, the reader is treated to almost 200 pages of photographs, candid and posed, of the woman whose life epitomized the fairy tale dream. The images lack a compelling arrangement, but Kelly's radiance, both onscreen and off, transcends the pages. With elegant looks that foreshadowed her real-life role as a princess, Kelly seems unable to take an unflattering photograph. From the on-set shots of Kelly frolicking with her To Catch a Thief co-star Cary Grant on the Côte d'Azur to the first pictures of Kelly and her three children, she exudes an air of effortlessness and confidence that has all but disappeared in today's leading ladies. The woman who became Alfred Hitchcock's ultimate blonde and the beloved princess of Monaco is exquisitely captured in this photographic collection that will delight longtime fans and newcomers alike. (July)