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21st out of 71 books
—
9 voters
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
When Navy ensign Billy Grenville, heir to a vast New York fortune, sees showgirl Ann Arden on the dance floor, it is love at first sight. And much to the horror of Alice Grenville--the indomitable family matriarch--he marries her. Ann wants desperately to be accepted by high society and become the well-bred woman of her fantasies. But a gunshot one rainy night propels Ann...more
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Published
November 28th 1998
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1985)
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Jul 31, 2011
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those Fascinated by the World of the Rich and Famous
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
This is one of those supposedly first person accounts where the narrator (Basil Plant) disappears into the background, with it reading more like omniscient. A gossipy, voyeuristic omniscience spinning a compellingly readable yarn based on the true murder case involving Ann and Billy Woodward. A blurb from Publisher's Weekly points to the appeal of the novel: "knowing glimpses of high living in high places." The author Dominick Dunne, a writer for Vanity Fair, had walked in such places, among suc...more
The first Mrs. Grenville is a triplet from the kind of family that the painter John Singer Sargent captured in portrait. The newly-minted Mrs. Grenville is a former showgirl from a small town in Kansas, lying about her age, sexual and marital history. Dominick Dunne's novel The Two Mrs. Grenvilles chronicles a fictional tug-of-war between these characters, based on a factual tug-of-war between the characters on which they are based.
I love Dominick Dunne, whom I affectionately refer to as "that...more
I love Dominick Dunne, whom I affectionately refer to as "that...more
quasi-fictional book, this is a delicious story about the higher echelons of New York society in the 1940's and 50's. It was inspired by the real life of Ann and William Woodward, and William's murder in 1955 by his wife.The fun of this book is the insider view of those high society circles. Dunne, a writer for Vanity Fair, dishes about these folks with a giggle and takes great pleasure at exposing them and their snobbish ways. The main focus is Ann Grenville (Woodward), social climber extraord...more
So there's a whole style or narration where the writer of the book interacts with the characters about which he's writing. This is another one of those. The writing is EXCELLENT. But the plot is quite a downer. It felt much like The Great Gatsby meets Rules of Civility.
Showgirl Ann Arden enchants wealthy slacker Billy Grenville with how lively and delightful and open she is. Yet a visit to Billy's cold and controlling mother Alice sets the stage for a silent, polite war between the two Mrs Gren...more
Showgirl Ann Arden enchants wealthy slacker Billy Grenville with how lively and delightful and open she is. Yet a visit to Billy's cold and controlling mother Alice sets the stage for a silent, polite war between the two Mrs Gren...more
This book was impossible for me to put down. The story of how Ann Grenville, former show girl turned society wife and Alice Grenville, aristocratic mother-in-law to Anne interacted over time is fascinating.
The book centers mainly on Ann, the outrageous firebrand who so wanted to be accepted into society and then ruined her life and the lives of many others with her violently unbalanced behavior.
As much as Ann's detestable and selfish behavior made me want to hate her, Dunne did a fantastic job o...more
The book centers mainly on Ann, the outrageous firebrand who so wanted to be accepted into society and then ruined her life and the lives of many others with her violently unbalanced behavior.
As much as Ann's detestable and selfish behavior made me want to hate her, Dunne did a fantastic job o...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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The two ladies mentioned in the title are mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Family matriarch Alice Grenville is very proper and very wealthy, and Ann Arden Grenville marries Alice's son William "Junior" Grenville much to his mother's dismay. Ann is a small town girl from Kansas who has come to New York to be a nightclub showgirl. Her marriage to Billy (Ann can't stand wither William or Junior as names) has its ups and downs, until one night Ann kills Billy and claims she thought he was an intru...more
Thoroughly enjoyable tale of New York's snobby rich & upper classes in the 1940's. Dunne is fantastic at dialogue, very little scene-setting -characters are revealed by their talk.
Are there really people like this? I'm afraid there are, but I don't know any. Reading Dominick Dunne is like watching great bad TV. It's better, because the writer creates an intimacy that TV cannot provide. This is the story of a beautiful poor girl, Ann, who is determined to climb up to the highest social level in NYC and beyond. She meets an innocent rich boy and they marry despite his family's horror. It works for a while. But Ann's goal is to become as refined, dignified, and commanding as...more
I was amazed at how much I liked this book. I've never read anything by Dominick Donne, thinking it was all trash junk reading, but the guy sure can keep on point when it comes to plot and moving a story along. Plus the characters were really really fun to read about, and it felt true....almost. That is, there was just a hint of fable. I may never read another DD, but this one I really did enjoy. The characters were almost stock, but not quite. The settings were almost stock but not quite. The w...more
Our book club decided to read The Two Mrs. Grenvilles upon learning of Dominick Dunne's recent passing. I just finished it, and found it a total, trash, page turner. I'm sure it is based on actual events, as Dunne was a wanna be in the upper class NYC scene, and he has a well-known fascination for crime, and the wealthy's ability to "get away with it." The characters in this story are, sadly, spoiled, mostly amoral, and sadly negligent parents, but I found it hard to put down. Immediately read t...more
Jan 28, 2013
Caroline
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Caroline by:
Susan Brewer
Reading this book was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You know what's going to happen and that it's going to be awful, but you keep watching (reading) anyways.
There were a few slow(er) parts in the first half, to fully paint the picture of this dysfunctional relationship, back in a time when the phrase hadn't been coined. I kept returning to see the story unfold, to find out what outrageous thing Ann would do next. Her capability for self-delusion was extraordinary, perhaps the sing...more
There were a few slow(er) parts in the first half, to fully paint the picture of this dysfunctional relationship, back in a time when the phrase hadn't been coined. I kept returning to see the story unfold, to find out what outrageous thing Ann would do next. Her capability for self-delusion was extraordinary, perhaps the sing...more
A fascinating glimpse into the world of the uppermost memebers of the wealthiest New York society. A great character driven book matching the power/cleverness of the old society in the person of the matriarch Alice Grenville against the power/cleverness of the dance hall intruder Ann Grenville who marries Alice's son. By the way, one cannot see Seattle from a cruise ship in the Pacific heading toward Fairbanks!
The tradition of the society novel, the novel of manners, is one I have been glad to ignore. This book, though, redeems the genre. I found the story of the monstrous Ann Grenville and the aristocratic family she marries into captivating and very well told. In the end, I cared for them all a great deal. No mean accomplishment, that.
Knowing this was based on a true crime makes this kind of sad, because nothing ended well for the real life family this is based on. But I can't help it! I love to peek in the windows of the rich and famous, and this scandalous book really delivers. The social climbing showgirl vs the queen of society! Tuck in for a delicious read.
This was so engrossing and so well-written it was a pleasure to read.
I did't know about the true case it was based on until after reading the book.
It is actually pretty close to the tragic true events.
As they say, the rich are different and this book examines that rather peculiar truth in quite a bit of depth.
Five stars, plus!
I did't know about the true case it was based on until after reading the book.
It is actually pretty close to the tragic true events.
As they say, the rich are different and this book examines that rather peculiar truth in quite a bit of depth.
Five stars, plus!
The first of many Dominick Dunne books I've read---like most of his books, this one was inspired by real people and a Truman Capote like figure reveals the sordid details of notorious gun "accident" where a wealthy man was accidentally shot to death by his social-climbing wife. Dunne's books are most readable and often quite fun.
It's not that the writing is bad - I didn't think about the writing or characterization - so both were good. I just did not like a single character in any part of this story. I don't care that anybody got shot, or if there was a reason. I'm just not interested in someone else's money and snobbery. I admitted to myself I was only finishing this book because I started it on my reading challenge. So there's my bit of snobbery.
A nice juicy read--a real page turner. I enjoyed the 1940s/50s period details, along with the look into the New York high society lifestyle of the time. Now that I think of it, the story has similarities to Edith Wharton's "The Custom of the Country," although set about forty years later and including MURDER.
I was really sad to learn that Dominick Dunne had died because I always enjoyed his articles and his views on the court system. So I thought I should read his best seller. I got sucked into all the lives and the fact that it was based on a true story made it even better. It's not a great work of art but a fun read.
Love Dominick. When I have time, I will research what non fictional character/event this story was based on. Very sensational. Oh wow, it was also a movie. Here's the link to the actual people this novel was based on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_....
A quasi-fictional book, this is a quick-ready story about the higher echelons of New York society in the 1940's and 50's. It was inspired by the real life of Ann and William Woodward, and William's murder in 1955 by his wife. She was acquitted of any wrongdoing.
Reminded me a bit of "American Eve" another "crime of the century" however this woman shot her husband for spite rather than abuse as Florence Evelyn Nesbit did.
That aside this is based on true events, told from a reporters point of view. I wish Dunne had a better name for him, Basil Plant, really, although there maybe something to read into that name. This is a fun, gossipy, mindless novel about a woman (a gasp show girl from rural Kansas) trying desperately to social climb in the NY Society of...more
That aside this is based on true events, told from a reporters point of view. I wish Dunne had a better name for him, Basil Plant, really, although there maybe something to read into that name. This is a fun, gossipy, mindless novel about a woman (a gasp show girl from rural Kansas) trying desperately to social climb in the NY Society of...more
After reading this book and "People Like Us" I FINALLY understand why I love Dominick Dunne so much--reading his books is like watching amazingly awful reality TV.
There I said it. Guilty as charged. Also, who can resist dialogue like this:
"It's Junior sowing his wild oats. He'd never marry her."
"How can you be so sure?"
"She pronounces the 't' in 'often.' "
There I said it. Guilty as charged. Also, who can resist dialogue like this:
"It's Junior sowing his wild oats. He'd never marry her."
"How can you be so sure?"
"She pronounces the 't' in 'often.' "
This book was interesting as it was based on a true story. Although the writing was a bit drawn out and sometimes too wordy. I find it interesting that Dominick Dunne refer to himself in the third person at times. A different read.
This is definitely a good Dominick Dunn novel. When I read it years ago I thought it was the best story ever. Yet as a re-read in 2012 the story is a bit simplistic. Still it is good and the characters are too.
One of my fave authors. Most of his books are based on real stories. This was the first book I read by him and I devoured everything I could find about the actual case for about three months after reading it.
The writing is...not great, and you pretty much know the entire plot before you start. But this book is just pure, delicious decadence. It would be a guilty pleasure, but I do not feel bad about it at all.
I read this book years ago and completely forgot about it until I read of Dominick Dunne's passing today. Good read based on a true story. I remember reading it when I was sick with the flu!
This is a light 4. Good read for entertainment. Dunne weaves a great story regardless the topic. Dont expect to be challenged or enlightened.. worth your time if you want a fast read.
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Dominick Dunne was an American writer and investigative journalist whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways high society interacts with the judiciary system. He was a producer in Hollywood and is also known from his frequent appearances on television.
After his studies at Williams College and service in World War II, Dunne moved to New York, then to Hollywood, where he directed Playhouse 90 and...more
More about Dominick Dunne...
After his studies at Williams College and service in World War II, Dunne moved to New York, then to Hollywood, where he directed Playhouse 90 and...more
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Feb 08, 2010 09:18am