When We Were the Kennedys A Memoir from Mexico Maine

1963 Mexico, Maine:  The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on the fathers' wages from the Oxford Paper Company.  Until the sudden death of Dad, when this family of now-only-women (Monica is one of four daughters) is set adrift.  Incandescent, funny, and to-the-bone moving, When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how a family saves itself--first by depending on Father Bob, youngest brother of Monica's mother, a Catholic priest who feels his new family responsibilities deeply.  And then, as the nation is shocked by the loss of its handsome Catholic president, Jackie Kennedy's televised grace restores the Woods--who are now strong enough themselves to stage an unprecedented family roadtrip to Washington, DC, to save Father Bob from his own griefs. An indelible story of how family and nation , each shocked by the unimaginable, exchange one identity for another. "Every few years, a memoir comes along that revitalizes the form, that takes us by the hand and leads us into the dream world of our collective past from which we emerge more wholly ourselves . . . When We Were the Kennedys is a deeply moving gem!"—Andre Dubus III , author of House of Sand and Fog and Townie

"Every few years, a memoir comes along that revitalizes the form, that takes us by the hand and leads us into the dream world of our collective past from which we emerge more wholly ourselves. With generous, precise, and unsentimental prose, Monica Wood brilliantly achieves this, bringing back to life the rural paper mill town of not only her youth but America's, too, its bumbling, hard-working, often violent, yet mostly good-hearted lurch forward into the 21st century. When We Were the Kennedys is a deeply moving gem!"—Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog and Townie

"This is an extraordinarily moving book, so carefully and artfully realized, about loss and life and love.　 Monica Wood displays all her superb novelistic skills in this breathtaking, evocative new memoir.　 Wow."—Ken Burns, filmmaker

"Monica Wood has written a gorgeous, gripping memoir. I don't know that I've ever pulled so hard for a family. When We Were the Kennedys captures a shimmering mill-town world on the edge of oblivion, in a voice that brims with hope, feeling, and wonder. The book humbles and soars."—Mike Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert

“Monica Wood is a stunning writer and When We Were the Kennedys a luminous and resonant achievement. If I were standing beside you, I would press this book into your hands.”—Lily King, author of The Pleasing Hour and Father of the Rain

"When We Were the Kennedys is a sharp, stunning portrait of a familys grief and healing, and it also offers a refreshing lens through which to view the JFK tragedy, as his familys loss helps the Woods feel less adrift in their own sea of anguish...Wood writes beautifully." —Washingtonian

"Wood movingly renders her childhood in Mexico, Maine, and her large Catholic family's fight to survive after her father's sudden death. It's a pleasure to linger with her elegant prose, keen eye, and grace of thought."—Reader's Digest

“The book is a shining example of everything a memoir should be.” —U.S. Catholic

"This is a beautifully composed snapshot of how a family, a town—and, later, a country—grieves and goes on...The bonds between family members, neighbors, and coworkers, as well as men and their professions, are all explored here with sensitivity and a sweetness that isnt saccharine." —Library Journal

 

"Braiding her own story of mourning together with the heartbreak all around her, Wood has written a tender memoir of a very different time." —O, the Oprah Magazine

"Every few years, a memoir comes along that revitalizes the form, that takes us by the hand and leads us into the dream world of our collective past from which we emerge more wholly ourselves. With generous, precise, and unsentimental prose, Monica Wood brilliantly achieves this, bringing back to life the rural paper mill town of not only her youth but America's, too, its bumbling, hard-working, often violent, yet mostly good-hearted lurch forward into the 21st century. When We Were the Kennedys is a deeply moving gem!"—Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog and Townie

"This is an extraordinarily moving book, so carefully and artfully realized, about loss and life and love.　 Monica Wood displays all her superb novelistic skills in this breathtaking, evocative new memoir.　 Wow."—Ken Burns, filmmaker

"Monica Wood has written a gorgeous, gripping memoir. I don't know that I've ever pulled so hard for a family. When We Were the Kennedys captures a shimmering mill-town world on the edge of oblivion, in a voice that brims with hope, feeling, and wonder. The book humbles and soars."—Mike Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert

“Monica Wood is a stunning writer and When We Were the Kennedys a luminous and resonant achievement. If I were standing beside you, I would press this book into your hands.”—Lily King, author of The Pleasing Hour and Father of the Rain Woods book...goes much beyond the story of her familys grief. The book is a meditation on time... Its also a record of a vanished way of life... it avoids sentimentalizing small-town life... By bringing such a town to life, with all its complexities and imperfections, its to Monica Woods great credit that she goes a long way to answering these questions. The New Yorker online

"In her intimate but expansive memoir, Monica Wood explores not only her family's grief but also the national end of innocence. Braiding her own story of mourning together with the heartbreak all around her, Wood has written a tender memoir of a very different time." --Oprah Magazine "On her own terms, wry and empathetic, Wood locates the melodies in the aftershock of sudden loss...That a memory piece as pacific and unassuming as When We Were the Kennedys should be allowed a seat in the hothouse society of tell-alls is a tribute to the welcoming sensibility of its author and the knowing faith of her publisher. " Boston Globe "It's a pleasure to linger with her elegant prose, keen eye, and grace of thought." --Reader's Digest "Best of America" issue "Wood's gorgeously wrought new book...is a sharp, stunning portrait of a family's grief and healing, and it also offer a refreshing lens through which to view the JFK tragedy, as his family's loss helps the Woods feel less adrift in their own sea of anguish." --The Washingtonian "Best of Washington" issue "Extraordinary, powerful and moving...This heart-wrenching, emotional, sometimes funny, oftentimes astonishing, and always compelling story is far better than the best novel...You will find yourself pausing, rereading entire paragraphs and thinking about what you've read...Read it and weep. Read it and wonder. Read it and rejoice. Kennebec Journal/Waterville (Maine) Morning Sentinel "This is an extraordinarily moving book, so carefully and artfully realized...Monica Wood displays all her superb novelistic skills in this breathtaking, evocative new memoir. Wow." —Ken Burns, filmmaker "A tender, plaintive...genuinely compelling depiction of family grief...a bittersweet, end-of-innocence family drama." --Kirkus "My great book of the summer...Its a terrific book, telling the story of Wood's family after the sudden death of her father when she was only nine. Thats sad, of course, but the book isnt about being sad, its about being a family. Its also about an era—the year was 1963—and draws a parallel between Wood's story and the national loss of President Kennedy." Bill Roorbach in Orion Magazine

Monica Wood's moving memoir of the season in 1963 Mexico, Maine, as she, her mother, and her three sisters healed after the loss of their mill-worker father and then the nation's loss of its handsome young Catholic president.

1963, Mexico, Maine. The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on a fathers wages from the Oxford Paper Company. Until the sudden death of Dad, when Mum and the four closely connected Wood girls are set adrift. Funny and to-the-bone moving, When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how this family saves itself, at first by depending on Father Bob, Mums youngest brother, a charismatic Catholic priest who feels his new responsibilities deeply. And then, as the nation is shocked by the loss of its handsome Catholic president, the televised grace of Jackie Kennedy—she too a Catholic widow with young children—galvanizes Mum to set off on an unprecedented family road trip to Washington, D.C., to do some rescuing of her own. An indelible story of how family and nation, each shocked by the unimaginable, exchange one identity for another.

   “Monica Wood has written a gorgeous, gripping memoir. I dont know that Ive ever pulled so hard for a family.”—Michael Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert

A memoir of the season when a family lost its father and the nation lost its president.

Mexico, Maine, 1963: The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on the fathers' wages from the Oxford Paper Company. But when Dad suddenly dies on his way to work one April morning, Mum and the four deeply connected Wood girls are set adrift. Funny and to-the-bone moving, When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how this family saves itself, at first by enlisting the help of Mum's brother, Father Bob, a charismatic Catholic priest. And then, come November—her brother still overwhelmed by grief, her country shocked by the president's death, and her town bracing for a labor strike—Mum announces an unprecedented family road trip. Inspired by the televised grace of Jackie Kennedy, herself a new widow with young children, Mum and her girls head to "our nation's capital" to do some rescuing of their own. An indelible story of how family and nation, each shocked by the unimaginable, exchange one identity for another.

Winner of the 2012 Sarton Memoir Award

“Every few years, a memoir comes along that revitalizes the form…With generous, precise, and unsentimental prose, Monica Wood brilliantly achieves this . . . When We Were the Kennedys is a deeply moving gem!”—Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog and Townie

Mexico, Maine, 1963: The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on the fathers wages from the Oxford Paper Company. But when Dad suddenly dies on his way to work, Mum and the four deeply connected Wood girls are set adrift. When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how a family, a town, and then a nation mourns and finds the strength to move on.

“On her own terms, wry and empathetic, Wood locates the melodies in the aftershock of sudden loss.”—Boston Globe

“[A] marvel of storytelling, layered and rich. It is, by turns, a chronicle of the renowned paper mill that was both pride and poison to several generations of a town; a tribute to the ethnic stew of immigrant families that grew and prospered there; and an account of one familys grief, love, and resilience.”—Maine Sunday Telegram

MONICA WOOD is the author of When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine. Her 2005 novel Any Bitter Thing spent twenty-one weeks on the American Booksellers Association extended bestseller list and was named a Book Sense Top Ten pick. Her other fiction includes Ernie’s Ark and My Only Story, a finalist for the Kate Chopin Award. She lives in Portland, Maine.

Prologue: My Mexico     xiii

1. Morning     1

2. Wake     21

3. Hiding     35

4. Explorers     55

5. Too Much Stairs     77

6. Paper     97

7. Three Vanillas     111

8. Offer It Up     123

9. The Mystery of the Missing Man     137

10. Just Nervous     149

11. Widows Instructions     165

12. Our Nations Capital     179

13. Anniversary     199

14. I Hear Music     213

Epilogue: New Page     223

Acknowledgments     233