“I must hurry back to my house and my flowers in Monaco.” ~Lillie Langtry

NONFICTION

True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess, Wendy Leigh, 2007 — This most recent biography of Grace Kelly takes a well-researched look behind the glamour, depicting the actress-turned-princess as an unhappy, lonely and sexually aggressive woman who transformed the tiny principality into a playground for the rich and famous.

The Grimaldis of Monaco: The Centuries of Scandal, The Years of Grace, Anne Edwards, 1992 — An illustrated history of the royal family.

Bridesmaids: Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, and Six Intimate Friends, Judy Quine, 1989 — A fascinating portrait of a generation of glamorous women touched by Kelly’s royal wedding, written by one of the inner circle.

FICTION

Twenty-four Hours in the Life of a Woman, Stefan Zwieg — A middle-aged English widow travels through Europe to escape loneliness and falls in love with a young Polish aristocrat, an obsessive gambler at the Monte-Carlo casino.

The Crack-Up, F. Scott Fitzgerald — The Jazz Age book’s hero plunges from reckless gaiety and glamour into the depths of despair on the Riviera and in Monte-Carlo.

The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton — Heroine Lily Bart observes her more privileged compatriots disporting themselves in Monte-Carlo and experiences the cruelty of their high-society world.

The Innocent Libertine, Colette — Set in 19th-century Parisian bourgeois society, this early Colette classic recounts how the rebellious Minnie strays from her husband but ultimately finds true love and passion while on holiday in Monte-Carlo.

Loser Takes All, Graham Greene — An unambitious accountant who spends his wedding and honeymoon in Monte-Carlo on board the private yacht of his boss visits the casino and, inevitably, loses. But it’s when his system starts working that he gets into real trouble.