Product Description

"A FRESH AND UNVARNISHED PORTRAIT OF A FASCINATING, TALENTED, AND DEEPLY FLAWED FAMILY."
—Boston Herald

Laurence Leamer was granted unheralded access to private Kennedy papers, and he interviewed family and old friends, many of whom had never been interviewed before, for this incredible portrait of the women in America’s "royal family." From Bridget Murphy, the foremother who touched shore at East Boston in 1849, to the intelligent, independent Kennedy women of today, Laurence Leamer tells their unforgettable stories.

Here are the private thoughts of Kathleen, the flirtatious debutante in prewar England . . . the truth behind Joe Kennedy’s insistence that his mildly retarded daughter, Rosemary, be lobotomized . . . the real story behind Joan and Ted’s whirlwind romance . . . Jackie’s desire for a divorce from JFK in the 1950s . . . Pat Lawford’s disastrous Hollywood marriage . . . how Caroline discovered her cousin David’s death by overdose, and more.

Tough enough to withstand the unimaginable, these Kennedy women soldier on in the name of their extraordinary family and what they believe is right.

"MASTERFUL . . . AN ENDLESSLY FASCINATING READ . . . A wealth of beautifully rendered social detail, at times reading like a realist novel by Edith Wharton . . . [A] page-turner from start to finish."
—The Dallas Morning News

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77612 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-29
• Released on: 1996-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

From Library Journal
This intimate portrait of five generations of Kennedy women is the basis for a minidocudrama airing in October.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Another Kennedy family saga, this one focusing on the women, from Irish forebears to feminist Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert and Ethel. For Kennedy aficionados, much of the material is familiar. In 1849, immigrants Bridget Murphy and Patrick Kennedy met on the boat from Ireland. Nine years after their marriage, she was a widow with four children who worked as a domestic servant, then bought and ran a variety store. In some ways, for the women of the Kennedy family, Bridget's story is as inspiring as it gets. From Rose, who married Bridget's grandson, Joe, to some two dozen grandchildren, author Leamer (King of the Night, 1989) tells a story that is as sad as it is tragic, with Rose as its center. In the grip of the Roman Catholic Church--which saw the role of a woman as mother and moral center--Rose changed from an ambitious, lively, curious girl to a wife and mother whose emotions were rigidly controlled and whose mechanisms of denial so highly refined that she could accept her husband's lovers--notably Gloria Swanson--into her home. She passed much of that legacy on to her daughters Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Jean. Open displays of tenderness were reserved for Rosemary, the retarded child, who was lobotomized and institutionalized out of the public eye. Kathleen is captured as the American who enchanted English society until her death in a plane crash; Eunice as the most successful in building a life of her own. Pat and Jean were not so lucky. The prickly paths of the daughters-in-law--Jackie, Joan, and Ethel--are included here as well. Although the ambitions of many of Rose's granddaughters, including Maria Shriver and Caroline Kennedy, have been tempered by marriage and children, theirs is a generation that seems to have shaken off the chains of Kennedy women as victims of a moral dichotomy. By ferreting out new sources and new material and putting the familiar tales into a broader social context, Leamer gives a clearer if not always brighter picture of what it means to be a Kennedy woman. (32 pages of b&w photographs, family tree, not seen). -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Inside Flap Copy
"A FRESH AND UNVARNISHED PORTRAIT OF A FASCINATING, TALENTED, AND DEEPLY FLAWED FAMILY."
?Boston Herald

Laurence Leamer was granted unheralded access to private Kennedy papers, and he interviewed family and old friends, many of whom had never been interviewed before, for this incredible portrait of the women in America?s "royal family." From Bridget Murphy, the foremother who touched shore at East Boston in 1849, to the intelligent, independent Kennedy women of today, Laurence Leamer tells their unforgettable stories.

Here are the private thoughts of Kathleen, the flirtatious debutante in prewar England . . . the truth behind Joe Kennedy?s insistence that his mildly retarded daughter, Rosemary, be lobotomized . . . the real story behind Joan and Ted?s whirlwind romance . . . Jackie?s desire for a divorce from JFK in the 1950s . . . Pat Lawford?s disastrous Hollywood marriage . . . how Caroline discovered her cousin David?s death by overdose, and more.

Tough enough to withstand the unimaginable, these Kennedy women soldier on in the name of their extraordinary family and what they believe is right.

"MASTERFUL . . . AN ENDLESSLY FASCINATING READ . . . A wealth of beautifully rendered social detail, at times reading like a realist novel by Edith Wharton . . . [A] page-turner from start to finish."
?The Dallas Morning News

Customer Reviews

Outstanding!
I did not want this book to end! It is a fascinating, fair, well-written book about all of the Kennedy women, their men, and the lives they led. I gained new insight, especially, into Kathleen Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, and matriarhc, Rose.

Great condition
This book arrived in good condition and in a timely manner just like the seller promised! A++

Interesting but too long
I found this book about the Kennedy family women a very interesting read. The only problem with it is that it is so long. At over 900 pages Mr. Leamer could have written three books and had them in instalments about one pericular Kennedy family women instead of tying to write so much about so many interesting people.