Some intriguing historical tidbits, delivered with gushing language and a gossipy tone.
Freewheeling biography of a racy Georgian demimondaine.
Manning (Seducing Mr. Heywood, etc., not reviewed) was inspired to delve more deeply into the life of divorcée Grace Elliott (1754–1823) after seeing Eric Rohmer’s film The Lady and the Duke, based on the Englishwoman’s posthumously published memoir of surviving the Reign of Terror in Paris. Well, perhaps “delve” is not quite the verb that springs to mind when the result is a text notable for its breathless prose and fawning treatment of British aristocracy. Born Grace Dalrymple in Edinburgh, Elliott was educated in a continental boarding school and married off at age 17 to an odious social-climbing doctor half her height and twice her age. She cuckolded John Eliot fairly quickly, thanks to her alluring beauty and the attentions of debauched gallant Lord Valentia. And she made an equally swift passage from shunned divorcé to fashionable lady (subject of several remarkable Gainsborough portraits) in both London and Paris. Lord Cholmondeley was her patron for several years, followed by Philippe, duc d’Orléans, the richest man in France, and then the Prince of Wales. Prinny, as the future George IV was known, may or may not have sired Elliott’s daughter Georgiana, but he ensured the girl’s care for the rest of her life. The intrepid Englishwoman’s finest hour occurred during the French Revolution. Openly loyalist, she probably smuggled letters for Marie-Antoinette. She was imprisoned and nearly guillotined for consorting with the turncoat Orléans. Manning exuberantly accompanies her account of these personages and their high-jinks with numerous, gleeful sidebars about topics such as birth control methods, scandal-mongering newspapers, the ascension of Madame Guillotine and the pronunciation of British upper-class names. My Lady will appeal to amateur historians and loyal followers of the current Prince Charles, to whom the author refers frequently.
Some intriguing historical tidbits, delivered with gushing language and a gossipy tone.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7432-6262-X
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rhimes said “yes” to sharing her insights. Following her may not land you on the cover of a magazine, but you’ll be glad you...
The queen of Thursday night TV delivers a sincere and inspiring account of saying yes to life.
Rhimes, the brain behind hits like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, is an introvert. She describes herself as a young girl, playing alone in the pantry, making up soap-opera script stories to act out with the canned goods. Speaking in public terrified her; going to events exhausted her. She was always busy, and she didn’t have enough time for her daughters. One Thanksgiving changed it all: when her sister observed that she never said “yes” to anything, Rhimes took it as a challenge. She started, among other things, accepting invitations, facing unpleasant conversations, and playing with her children whenever they asked. The result was a year of challenges and self-discovery that led to a fundamental shift in how she lives her life. Rhimes tells us all about it in the speedy, smart style of her much-loved TV shows. She’s warm, eminently relatable, and funny. We get an idea of what it’s like to be a successful TV writer and producer, to be the ruler of Shondaland, but the focus is squarely on the lessons one can learn from saying yes rather than shying away. Saying no was easy, Rhimes writes. It was comfortable, “a way to disappear.” But after her year, no matter how tempting it is, “I can no longer allow myself to say no. No is no longer in my vocabulary.” The book is a fast read—readers could finish it in the time it takes to watch a full lineup of her Thursday night programing—but it’s not insubstantial. Like a cashmere shawl you pack just in case, Year of Yes is well worth the purse space, and it would make an equally great gift.
Rhimes said “yes” to sharing her insights. Following her may not land you on the cover of a magazine, but you’ll be glad you did.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4767-7709-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 31, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A straightforward tale of kindness and paying it forward in 1980s New York.
When advertising executive Schroff answered a child’s request for spare change by inviting him for lunch, she did not expect the encounter to grow into a friendship that would endure into his adulthood. The author recounts how she and Maurice, a promising boy from a drug-addicted family, learned to trust each other. Schroff acknowledges risks—including the possibility of her actions being misconstrued and the tension of crossing socio-economic divides—but does not dwell on the complexities of homelessness or the philosophical problems of altruism. She does not question whether public recognition is beneficial, or whether it is sufficient for the recipient to realize the extent of what has been done. With the assistance of People human-interest writer Tresniowski (Tiger Virtues, 2005, etc.), Schroff adheres to a personal narrative that traces her troubled relationship with her father, her meetings with Maurice and his background, all while avoiding direct parallels, noting that their childhoods differed in severity even if they shared similar emotional voids. With feel-good dramatizations, the story seldom transcends the message that reaching out makes a difference. It is framed in simple terms, from attributing the first meeting to “two people with complicated pasts and fragile dreams” that were “somehow meant to be friends” to the conclusion that love is a driving force. Admirably, Schroff notes that she did not seek a role as a “substitute parent,” and she does not judge Maurice’s mother for her lifestyle. That both main figures experience a few setbacks yet eventually survive is never in question; the story fittingly concludes with an epilogue by Maurice. For readers seeking an uplifting reminder that small gestures matter.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-4251-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Howard Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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