Wendy Leigh's True Grace

Biography is just as much about the writer of the bio as it is about the subject. Judging from the prurient, scandalous, superficial information about Grace Kelly in True Grace, I’m pretty sure Wendy Leigh started off her writing life as a gossip writer for the National Enquirer. I love biography because it is (supposed to be) intense character-driven drama, and the best biographies provide information about motivation, life-defining experiences, and behavior patterns. Leigh doesn’t really do anything like this. She gets excited when she talks about Grace’s experiences with men. There is even an undercurrent of jealousy in these passages, but there is little else. I know little about Princess Grace after reading this 200-page book, and I wonder now why I didn’t just give it the deep six half way through. Oh well, at least I know now that Jackie Kennedy was jealous of Grace Kelly because JFK was in love with her for his entire life. Hmm…or maybe not. Yeesh.