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.
Many thanks to Harper Collins Ireland for my copy of Meet Me in Monaco to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Meet Me In Monaco takes us back to the glamorous French Riviera during the 1950's as we follow the story of Grace Kelly and how she met and fell in love with Prince Rainier. Well their story is the backdrop to that of another story when by pure chance photographer James stumbles into perfumier Sophie's shop in Cannes. He is in hot pursuit of Grace Kelly to get the ultimate photograph which will please his editor but also earn himself a name. Sophie has Grace hiding out in her office and is not prepared to reveal her whereabouts but this event will have such a significance and fore bearing on what is to come in the following weeks, months and years. This is a novel of passion, fate and second chances with the subsequent royal wedding of Grace and Prince Rainier playing a very much pivotal role.
This novel has been written by two authors Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb and I would never have known this was the case only for it was stated on the front so seamlessly did the entire plot flow that it was impossible to tell who wrote what sections. In fact it made me very intrigued as I am sure it did for many other readers as to how the whole writing process worked for the pair and how they decided who wrote what parts or did one person write the Sophie aspect of the story and the other James or was it a chapter a piece? I would be very interested to find out. Either way the authors did a very good job of evoking a sense of time and place. A time which was so exciting and garnered numerous worldwide headlines for the captivating events unfolding right before the eyes of the world as a fairytale seemed to be emerging and capturing the hearts and minds of anyone who cared to pay it more than a passing heed.
I could so easily visualise both Cannes and Monaco where the majority of the book takes place. All the glitz and glamour, the riches and spoils on view but beneath it all there is another love story waiting to be told. Sophie works away creating fabulous and memorable scents. It has been her lifelong passion ever since she can remember and when her father died during the war she made a promise to herself that she would continue on the Duval legacy and heritage. But times are tough and her mother is determined the factory and land where the perfumes are produced and the produce grown must be sold. Sophie needs something major to occur to turn their fortunes around to avoid everything both her and her father have worked so hard for just evaporating into thin air. Could sheltering Grace in her shop led to much much more just at the point in her life she needs a miracle to happen?
Sophie was a person so passionate about her career, she dedicated so many hours to creating that perfect blend that would make a woman feel special and exotic. But from that moment James enters the shop in pursuit of Grace the reader can sense there is palpable connection between the pair but as James is from England and has a daughter back at home will there be anything worth pursuing? Or is Sophie herself too caught up in a web she feels she hasn't an easy get out of? There's is a difficult friendship/relationship to navigate but it is all explored against the frantic preparations for what will go on to be a royal wedding that people will talk about for years to come. Sophie and James don't actually come into physical contact with each other all that often in the book and I think this needed to happen an awful lot more.
There are letters and notes passed to each other but I felt at times the reader themselves had to more or less imagine the passion that could exist between the two and the deep of their feelings for one another as we never witnessed actually strong evidence of this. It felt like we had to presume an awful lot as not much was said face to face. I thought the story at times skirted beneath the surface and more depth was needed, the same could be said for the relationship between Grace and her husband to be. I know they weren't the sole focus of the book but I wanted to scratch beneath the surface and delve a little deeper. To reach beyond the superficiality of things and to get to know the real inner workings of their hearts and minds. If there had been more of a balance between the history and romance element I think it would have given the story more depth overall as towards the end things became slightly too rushed and maybe too predictable given the attention to detail in other parts of the story.
You will fly through Meet Me In Monaco as the chapters are short enough and there is a nice, easy pace but saying that I felt it was over before it began. I thought the story was really getting going and then it was finished. I think more chapters between the royal wedding and the events that unfolded in the early 1980's would have added to the story in the last quarter. But what I did love was the articles interspersed through the story every few chapters or so. All written by the same female journalist and they really helped to being the historical element of the story alive. They were fascinating to read and written in such a conversational manner so that it really helped the transition between chapters told from either James or Sophie's perspectives.
I loved James as a character. He was flawed but at the centre of it all, he had a good and kind heart and his devotion to his daughter deserves to be commended. He was trying to complete a photographic job to save his dwindling career but little did he realise it would alter his view of life forever when he becomes embroiled in his own fairytale. Both himself and Sophie face many difficulties choices and are deeply affected by their experiences. There are lots of things unsaid and missed connections all ensue when one of the worlds most famous women took shelter in a perfume shop.
Meet Me In Monaco is a very easy, light read that is perfect if you are looking for a quick read which will provide some escapism for its readers. The details of the wedding were enthralling but overall some aspects of the Sophie/James storyline needed some more development. For me as enjoyable read as it was it just lacked that little bot of extra oomph to propel this to a phenomenal read but undoubtedly many many readers will derive lots of pleasure from this story.
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