The bridesmaids

The Bridesmaids, published in 1989, is an account of Grace Kelly by one of the six women in her bridal party, according to Kirkus Reviews. Open Library lists the author as Judy Quine, while Google Books and Kirkus give her name as Judith Balaban Quine. The Google Books record carries a subtitle that joins Kelly, as Princess of Monaco, to “Six Intimate Friends.” Open Library names Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Grove/Atlantic as publishers, records 498 pages, and files the book under subjects that include friends and associates, royal weddings, the upper class and Monaco.

Kirkus Reviews, in a notice dated June 12, 1989, called the book “a smart and readable portrait” of Kelly and said it held “no gossipy surprises.” The review said the book is billed as the story of Kelly and all six bridesmaids, but that its true subjects are the princess and the author. It named its likely audience as “eager Grace fans,” who would find a large supply of small detail.

The title sets it apart from its neighbors. Jeffrey Robinson’s Rainier & Grace, also dated 1989, pairs Kelly with her husband, and Jane Ellen Wayne’s Grace Kelly’s men (1991) points to the men in her life, where Quine’s title points to the women who stood up at her wedding.

For fans

What Kirkus Reviews says the book contains

The Kirkus notice of 1989 is a detailed account of the contents. It says Quine and Kelly met in 1953 at Quine’s wedding to the talent agent Jay Kanter, and that the reserved actress took to the lively bride and became her regular lunch companion. Kelly then chose her bridal party: Bettina Thompson and Sally Parrish, her classmates at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts; Maree Frisby, her closest friend from high school; the model Carolyn Scott; the actress Rita Gam; and Quine, whom the review calls “Judybird.” The review describes an Atlantic crossing with trunks of clothes and many other guests, followed by a run of wedding events governed by protocol. It says the engagement came after a courtship of several days, while Wikipedia’s article on Kelly describes a courtship of a year.

The later part of the book, as Kirkus reports it, follows the women apart. Quine and Kanter moved from Manhattan to Hollywood, where the parties included Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Joan Collins, and Quine went through months of LSD therapy while separating from Kanter. In Monaco, the review says, Kelly moved toward greater conservatism and took delight in motherhood. The other bridesmaids went through child-raising and divorce, and the review says most came out strong, though Scott was living in a homeless shelter when it appeared. Visits across the Atlantic, which Kirkus calls “periodic and uneventful,” went on until Kelly’s death.

The verdict in 1989

Kirkus was measured about the Kelly material, saying its detail “tickles rather than electrifies.” Its praise went to the author, whom it called “consistently lively.” The review closed by ranking Quine’s change from “socialite party girl” to “hard-working karate promoter” as a story equal in richness to what it termed Kelly’s “obedient spin in the spotlight.”

Where it falls among the Kelly books

Its catalog entry classes The Bridesmaids as a biography. By date it follows Marjorie P. K. Weiser’s Grace Kelly (1970), Gwen Robyns’s Princess Grace (1976), Phyllida Hart-Davis’s Grace, the story of a princess (1982), Steven Englund’s Grace of Monaco (1984), Sarah Bradford’s Princess Grace (1984) and James Spada’s Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess (1987), the last of which is classed as a memoir. Howell Conant’s Grace (1992), Robert Lacey’s Grace (1994), Wendy Leigh’s True Grace (2007) and Donald Spoto’s High society (2009) all came after it.