Synopses & Reviews
MRS. KENNEDY: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years is a poignant and deeply sympathetic account of Jacqueline Kennedy during the 1,000 days of the Kennedy presidency. Critically acclaimed biographer Barbara Leaming has -- with revelatory new eyewitness testimony, profoundly moving letters written by Jackie, minute-by-minute Secret Service records, and recently declassified top-secret documents -- crafted an astonishing portrait of a Jackie Kennedy the world has not previously known. Leaming's meticulous reportage illuminates the tumultuous day-to-day life of a young woman fighting for her survival, her marriage, and her husband's presidency. Its unique perspective on the very public Kennedy marriage during an extraordinary time in our nation's history is both riveting and shocking. Leaming's conviction that the Kennedys' private life cannot be understood outside the context of the presidency makes MRS. KENNEDY something much more than a portrait of a marriage. It is also, in important ways, the story of the Kennedy presidency, with a tremendous missing piece filled in. Leaming has produced not only the definitive account of the Kennedy marriage, but also a richly detailed and marvelously dramatic picture of John F. Kennedy and his administration as they have never been seen before.
Brilliantly researched, intellectually probing and far-reaching in scope, MRS. KENNEDY is a book that will forever change the way we think about both Jacqueline Kennedy and the man she loved.
About the Author
Barbara Leaming is the author of several books, including the critically acclaimed Orson Welles, written with Welles's cooperation, as well as the New York Times bestseller Katharine Hepburn. A graduate of Smith College in Russian Studies, she also earned a Ph.D. at New York University and taught for many years at Hunter College in New York City. Her articles have appeared in Vanity Fair and the New York Times Magazine. She lives in Connecticut.
Table of Contents
Contents AUTHOR'S NOTE
CHAPTER 1: Modus Vivendi
CHAPTER 2: The Presidency Begins
CHAPTER 3: Tell Me About Macmillan
CHAPTER 4: A Family Drama
CHAPTER 5: The Magic Is Lost
CHAPTER 6: Hall of Mirrors
CHAPTER 7: In Her Own Right
CHAPTER 8: Goddess of Power
CHAPTER 9: Eyes in the Portraits
CHAPTER 10: A Critical Moment
CHAPTER 11: Valediction
CHAPTER 12: Indiscretion
CHAPTER 13: Private Grief
CHAPTER 14: A Study in Betrayal
CHAPTER 15: Alone
CHAPTER 16: My Dear Friend
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES ON SOURCES
INDEX