Memoires de Madame La Baronne de Batteville, Ou La Veuve Parfaite (1766)

A drunken-dial from a fallen teen queen?
A lock-in at the top of the Sears Tower?
A disastrous first pitch at a Cubs game?

Thirty-year-old Grace Daniels’ life comes full circle when she receives a phone call from the publicist of former Hollywood it girl, Maddy Malone. Fresh out of rehab, Maddy is returning to Chicago to star in a low budget Indie film and discovers that her former guardian is now the host of her own talk show, As Good As Grace. Having already rejected Oprah’s pleas for an interview, Maddy decides that her first public appearance ought to be on Grace’s show instead. When the two are reunited, Maddy is shocked and enticed by the new and improved Grace, who has cultivated a new image with her recently highlighted hair, hot boyfriend Jesse, and expensive wardrobe. Maddy is acutely aware that Grace has moved on up, Jefferson-style.

Grace is also astonished by some changes in Maddy since they were last together. For instance, Maddy, once consumed with haute couture, now shops at the Gap and resorts to selling her old designer bags to the crew on set for extra cash. Maddy has also essentially dispensed with her freeloading and attention- seeking mother. When Maddy’s hotel reservation is lost, the perpetually self-sacrificing Grace makes a split-second decision to help her and finds herself in even more ludicrous adventures with her young protegee. During the most crucial time of Grace’s career, she struggles to keep Maddy afloat while the young starlet comes to terms with the fact she is no longer dazzling the paparazzi on the red carpets or wowing them at Cannes. As they embark on this journey together, the two learn that, sometimes in life, stepping up to the plate and helping others can bring true salvation - and that is the path to glory and fame.