May 7, 2021
And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Who doesn't love a good book about royalty? For many people (including my dad), the Kennedy family was American royalty. Jacqueline and John Kennedy appeared to have a perfect marriage and a fairy tale life, but it was all a smoke screen.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the most famous and recognizable women on the planet. Unfortunately, most people remember her as the blood-spattered wife of a murdered American president. But there was much more to Jackie than those pictures from November 1963.
From a young age, Jackie was groomed to attract a famous and/or wealthy husband. She was a debutante from a wealthy family, and her friends and social network brought her into the world of John Kennedy. Jackie narrates her own story, beginning with how she met John and was expected to assimilate into the Kennedy clan, to fall in line with the family mythology.
While she was First Lady, she renovated the White House and gave the first televised tour of the most famous house in the world. She hosted gala events and met royalty and world leaders. But Jackie had more than her share of heartbreak and tragedy, from her miscarriages and the death of a child, to her husband's poor health and rampant sexual habits (neither of which were ever talked about in the press), to seeing her husband murdered in front of her.
There are wonderful tidbits about clothing and jewelry, as well as events that Jackie attended that keep the reader flipping over to Google for more information and photos.
There are hints that Robert Kennedy and Jackie had a thing for each other even before John's death. Like John, Robert also had a number of extra-marital liaisons. A lot of what the Kennedy brothers and their pals got up to would not pass the scrutiny of today's social media and #MeToo movement.
This fictional biography is well-researched and beautifully written. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
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