Meet Me in Monaco is a fluffy read, good for airplanes and beaches and those last few minutes before bed. Co-authors Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb have created their story by imagining the life and times of the (fictional) struggling perfumer whose family workshop was saved when Grace Kelly commissioned her to create a singular scent for her wedding to Prince Rainier.
The women are thrown together when Grace, still a film star, seeks refuge from a photographer in Sophie Duval's small Cannes shop during the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The photographer, James Henderson, stumbles in moments after Grace is safely hidden away. From these two, small encounters are born relationships that will ebb and flow through the decades, until Grace's untimely death in 1982.
While one images that Gaynor and Webb set out to create in Sophie a character who was sympathetic and likeable, I found James outshone her in that regard. In many ways, Sophie was actually one of the least enjoyable aspects of the book - James Henderson topped the list, but so did much of the narrative (Grace's journey to Monaco, the making of a scent, Cannes in winter).
Ultimately, Meet Me in Monaco is a three-and-a-half to four star read, easy and fun, no deep thinking required.
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