Princess Grace Book

Buy this book! It is a marvel. In my copy nearly every page is dog-eared.

Unfortunately, most of the items you need to complete the recipes are impossible to find for Americans who don't live in New York, L.A. or Seattle (like for example: dried nightingale droppings). There are suggestions that are wise: healing teas, using common household vegetables and roots to treat the body and soul. Bath temperatures for healing and enjoyment.

The true value of this book lies in the implication that beauty is greater than the quality of the skin--that beauty comes from a life of acceptance, kindness and purpose. Granted, the writer doesn't belabor the point. What she does talk about is creating time for self care that translates into delicious, exotic forays into every woman's Secret Garden.

On the final page there is a section of advice, sort of a what-my-grandma-taught-me list of secrets to beauty; it contains such luminous suggestions as: Control your desires. Don't always want what you can't have. This unsatisfied yearning habit makes a woman ugly. This list has appeared in many other places--not always attributed, which is a shame, because this author deserves credit for the sensitivity she brings to this subject.