Authors beginning with the letter H

A night in with Grace Kelly by Lucy Holliday

Synopsis

Libby Lomax has realised that her best friend Olly is the one for her, but he's happy and in love with Tash. Another conflict is the fact that she is trying to make her own business work, and making a bad first impression on her financial backer. Fortunately Libby meets Joel in a accidental meeting straight out of a romantic comedy. Soon afterwards Grace Kelly appears, and tries to help Libby see that happy endings aren't just for fairy tales. 

This is the last one in the trilogy that Holliday created to feature Libby. I read the first one in which Libby meets Audrey Hepburn and thoroughly enjoyed it. Libby is a avid film fan who grew up idolising the stars of Hollywood's golden years through her father. Holliday's version of Grace Kelly is initially reluctant to accept the idea of Libby being real, and persists in thinking of Libby as a figment of her own imagination. 

Libby is still surrounded by distinct and endearing characters such as Bogdan- the aspiring hairdresser who mixes up his idioms regularly. Nora- the always supportive best friend. Her sister and mother who focus on their own lives rather than Libby. Her mother has traits similar to Mrs Bennet from Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in that she wants her children to achieve big things, and form a attachment preferably with a wealthy man. 

Holliday made Libby into a very supportive and loving character in the first book, prone to putting others before herself, and keeps that trait intact in this one. Libby is there for her ex boyfriend Dillon, a relapsing alcoholic. He made a appearance in the first book, and was the obstacle between Olly and Libby, as he was her main love interest then. 

It's a lighthearted and well written novel, with a unusual secondary character in Grace Kelly. Holliday's Grace is unsure of whether she truly wants to be married to Prince Rainer, and has had a relationship with Cary Grant. I don't know if Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe interacted very much in reality, but Holliday has them banding together to save Libby's life, and also giving their own take on what is important in romantic relationships. 

I really enjoyed this one, and will be seeking out the second one so that I can fill in the gaps in Libby's story seeing as Holliday currently doesn't intend to write further adventures for her and Olly. 

My inspirations

Audrey Hepburn

May 4 1929-  Jan 20 1993

For me Audrey Hepburn was the epitome of elegance, both in her choice of clothing and the way that she carried herself in public. I’m not sure when exactly she became one of my heroes, or when I first watched her in a film, but I do know that after seeing her in Roman Holiday, her fun and excitement over life, seemingly crossing the line between fiction and truth, I wanted to see something else that she was in.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s was the next film of hers that I got my hands on, and I loved it as well. Despite the terrible and utterly racist depiction of her neighbour, the rest of it was a lot of fun, and I admired the fact that Holly wasn’t wholly likable. She possesses a lot of good qualities, but the confusion that she feels, makes her treat Paul Varjack, in a not entirely pleasant way.

She wasn’t scared to take roles that challenged her, taking roles as diverse as a teacher accused of being a lesbian (Children’s Hour 1961), a chauffeur’s daughter who becomes a chef (Sabrina 1954) and Maid Marian late in her life (Robin and Marian 1976).

It reveals how strong her power and charisma was, as despite the fact that she stopped taking lead roles regularly in the sixties, and has been dead since 1993, that she still has the power to sell merchandise, and is still idolised by people across the world.