Books Like The Girl In White Gloves

Biographies and autobiographies have always been popular because they offer a rare glimpse into the lives of others. Some people enjoy reading about all the dirty secrets that inevitably come to light in these books, while for others, it's about finding something to relate to in the lives of people they admire. However, not everyone had an opportunity to get their life story told, which is why some authors have taken it upon themselves to write these stories. Some are entirely fictional and based on popular characters who never existed, while others feature historical figures in situations invented by the authors. The ones whose lives were shrouded in mystery or overshadowed by more famous partners are often favorites. For example, The Girl in White Gloves by Kerri Maher is the story of  Grace Kelly, the American actress who became a Hollywood star before marrying royalty and taking on the mantle of Princess of Monaco. For more biographical novels that mix facts and fiction for compelling stories, check out the following books like The Girl In White Gloves. 

Orlando: A Biography

By Virginia Woolf

Orlando is a novel by Virginia Wolf inspired by her friend, the aristocratic poet Vita Sackville-West. At the novel's start, Orlando is a passionate young nobleman enjoying the delights of Queen Elizabeth's court. However, three centuries later, Orlando will have transformed into a thirty-six-year-old woman who has met many of the key figures of English literature.  

Burr: A Novel

By Gore Vidal

Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series and tells the story of Aaron Burr, the man who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. The duel occurred in 1804 when Burr served as vice president, and Hamilton was his political nemesis. Burr was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason in 1807 and went on to become a statesman. However, determined to tell his own story, Burr confides in a young New York City journalist who learns more about the man who many people of his time considered to be a monster. 

The Other Einstein

By Marie Benedict

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict tells the story of Mitza Maric, a brilliant woman whose own genius was often overlooked in the shadow of her famous husband, Albert Einstein. Mitza was a brilliant physicist in her own right and, by age twenty, was studying physics at an elite Zurich university. However, her life changed when a fellow student named Albert Einstein took an interest in her. While her contributions to the special theory of relativity remain a topic with much debate, The Other Einstein offers a glimpse into what it might have been like for Mitza to live in the shadow of her husband.  

Jacqueline in Paris

By Ann Mah

Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah is set in 1949 and follows Jacqueline Bouvier as she arrives in Paris to begin her junior year abroad. Although she is only twenty years old, she knows all too well how much her mother expects her to make a brilliant match for a future partner. However, her time in Paris is meant to be a break from all that family pressure, and she is determined to make the most of it. However, despite the luminous beauty of the City of Light, postwar Paris still bears the scars of the Occupation.  Jacqueline Bouvier would go on to become an American icon as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, but this novel offers a fascinating look at her origin story. 

American Princess

By Stephanie Marie Thornton

American Princess by Stephanie Marie Thornton stars Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth, the eldest child of President Theodore Roosevelt. As the First Daughter, she had no qualms about standing out and making waves. Alice also didn't hesitate to use her celebrity status to her advantage and drew much attention with her gum-chewing, cigarette-smoking, poker-playing ways of breaking the social norms of the time. However, her outspokenness and willingness to get up to no good also earned her the affectionate nickname of Princess Alice from the American people.  

I, Claudius

By Robert Graves

I, Gladius by Robert Graves tells the story of the much-maligned Roman emperor who found himself next in line for the throne after the death of Caligula. Claudius, who was once a bookish young man with a limp, stammer, and nervous tics, was an unlikely candidate for emperor. However, Graves drew on the histories of Plutarch, Suetonius, and Tacitus to tell an altogether more compassionate tale of Claudius. 

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald 

By Therese Anne Fowler

Z by Therese Anne Fowler is a novel about Zelda Sayre, the beautiful, reckless Southern belle who would win the heart of F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance. At the time, Scott was a young army lieutenant, and despite his insistence that his writing would bring fame and fortune, her family considered him unsuitable for their daughter. Nevertheless, when Scott sells his first novel, Zelda boards a train north to marry him and join him in the wild new world that awaits both of them. 

The Private Life of Dr Watson

By Michael Hardwick

Everyone knows Doctor John Watson as the sidekick of the great detective Sherlock Holmes, but Michael Hardwick's The Private Life of Dr Watson explores his life before meeting Holmes. The story begins in Scotland and follows Watson's tumultuous formative years before following him on numerous trips across four continents, where he makes his mark, falls in love, and ends up solving a mystery.