Jackie After O: One Remarkable Year When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Defied Expectations and Rediscovered Her Dreams

Defined in the public eye by her two high-profile marriages, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis faced a personal crossroads on the eve of 1975. Her relationship with Aristotle Onassis was crumbling while his health was rapidly declining. Her children were nearing adulthood, soon to leave her with an empty nest. Both death and scandal were about to strike yet again. But 1975 would also be a time of incredible growth and personal renaissance for Jackie, the year in which she reinvented herself and rediscovered talents and passions she had set aside for her roles as wife and mother.

In Jackie After O, acclaimed author and journalist Tina Cassidy explores this prolific yet incredibly daunting year in the life of Jacqueline Onassis, including her part in the campaign to preserve Grand Central Terminal in New York City; her pursuit of a real career, in the editorial department of Viking Press; the death of her second husband and her fraught relationship with his surviving daughter; and the London bombing that almost took her own daughter's life. Cassidy has unearthed new information from archives and original interviews, and reveals intimate stories about the projects and interests of Jackie's earlier years that would lay the foundation for her life beginning in 1975, from an internship at Vogue to her meticulous restoration of the White House when she was First Lady.

Jackie After O is an exciting and original portrayal of the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through the lens of one remarkable year, a time of reinvention both personal and public, as she shook the world's expectations and pursued her dreams in middle age.

"Cassidy (Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born) focuses her attention on a lesser known Jackie O in her newest. While 'The world knew Jackie was beautiful, stoic, and rich... It did not know, or perhaps did not care, that she was interested in history and architecture, that she was a talented writer, a voracious reader, and a person of some ambitions of her own.' The year is 1975, and though the memory of JFK's assassination over a decade ago is still relatively fresh in the nation's memory, Jackie-newly widowed for the second time after the death of Aristotle Onassis-has begun to pursue her own goals. Still the target of paparazzi and folks looking to cash in on the Kennedy name, Jackie secures a position as editor at Viking, and later, Doubleday, where she would work till her death. In addition to her career-related duties, Jackie also took it upon herself to save Grand Central Terminal from the fate that befell the original Penn Station, a campaign that would prove successful in preserving one of New York City's most iconic landmarks. In addition to being compelling sketch of a widow seeking to rebuild her life, Cassidy's portrait of Jackie O also addresses grander, timely themes, such as the juggling of public and private lives, as well as the plight of women entering a still male-dominated workplace. Photos. "
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Former Boston Globe reporter Tina Cassidy delivers a remarkable account of one year in the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Americas favorite first lady and an international icon. 1975 was a year of monumental changes for Jackie: it was the year she lost her second husband, shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, saved one of New York Citys cultural landmarks at Grand Central Station, and found her true calling—not as a powerful mans wife or the mother of future leaders, but as a woman of the workforce with a keen mind and a dedication to excellence. Readers of Christopher Andersens Jackie After Jack and Pamela Clarke Keoghs Jackie Style will find no better look at the intimate world of Americas Queen of Camelot than Tina Cassidys Jackie After O.

Tina Cassidy, an acclaimed author and journalist, spent most of her career as a reporter and editor at the Boston Globe, where she covered a variety of topics, including business, politics, and fashion. She is also the author of Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their three sons.