The acclaimed biography by Jeffrey Robinson, now revised and updated to coincide with the major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace. It was one of the most famous romances of the 20th century—Europe’s most eligible bachelor, Prince Rainier of Monaco, and America’s most beautiful movie star, the Academy Award-winning actress Grace Kelly, fell in love against the backdrop of the closest thing the modern world has to a magical kingdom, the French Riviera’s Principality of Monaco. Told with affection and humor, and written with the unprecedented cooperation of Prince Rainier III and his children, Prince Albert, Princess Caroline, and Princess Stephanie, Grace of Monaco takes readers beneath the surface glitz and the glamour of Monte Carlo for a never-to-be-forgotten portrait of the House of Grimaldi.
Nicole Kidman Book order (chronological)



Truth
Personas, Needs, and Flaws in The Art of Building Actors and Creating Characters
- 301 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Stanislavski, Strasberg, Meisner, Adler, Berghoff, Hagen, Mamet... now Batson. Nicole Kidman approached her role in The Hours as a creative collaboration, understanding that portraying Virginia Woolf required a shared truth. Enter acting "alchemist" Susan Batson, whose process equipped Kidman to discover that truth, refining her performance from within, ultimately earning her an Oscar®. In TRUTH, Batson distills her extensive experience as an actor, teacher, and coach into a step-by-step guide for character creation, from the first read-through to the final performance. She debunks a century of myths surrounding "method acting," identifying the key elements of Need, Public Persona, and Tragic Flaw that connect the actor to their character. Need represents the unfulfilled desire hidden by the character's Public Persona, while Tragic Flaw emerges when the Need and Public Persona collide. TRUTH illustrates how understanding these principles leads to the most authentic performances. This book is essential for beginning actors, a wake-up call for seasoned performers, and a vital reference for writers, revealing the inner workings of storytelling and the creation of vivid, three-dimensional characters.
The portrait of a lady
- 46 pages
- 2 hours of reading
[Penguin Readers Level 3]When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as `a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action'. She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path. But that way leads to disillusionment and a future as constricted as `a dark narrow alley with a dead wall at the end'. In a conclusion that is one of the most moving in modern fiction, Isabel makes her final choice. The Portrait of a Lady is the masterpiece of James's middle period, and Isabel is perhaps his most engaging central character. This edition provides a challenging new introduction and detailed notes; the text is that of the New York Edition and includes Henry James's own Preface.