Eve Claxton

In the 1940s-1950s Nyna Giles's mother Carolyn Scott was a sought-after Eileen Ford model with many photo spreads and magazine covers to her credit. She was also a close friend of the young Grace Kelly, and served as one of the Philadelphia-born princess's bridesmaids when the latter married Prince Rainer. But after these high points, Carolyn entered into a bad marriage and descended into mental illness. She kept her young daughter, then called Nina, out of school for years because of delusional fears about her health. Eventually Carolyn lost everything, and she became a long-term resident of a women's shelter.

The story told herein is slight, and might have worked better as a long magazine article. The most interesting aspect, to me, was the narrative's depiction of the working lives of midcentury fashion models. It is tragic that Carolyn never received the help she needed, and that her illness prevented her daughter from having the childhood and education she deserved. Recommended.… (més)