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: #26157 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-29
• Released on: 1996-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780449911716
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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.

From the Inside Flap
"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

a virtual feast for Kennedy lovers
For five years bestselling author, journalist & social historian Laurence Leamer researched the book, receiving unprecedented cooperation from Kennedy family members, interviewing scores of relatives & close associates, & gaining access to hundreds of personal documents. The book combines his exhaustive & superb scholarship with a gripping narrative that will forever alter our perception of America's royal family.

The Kennedy Women is a virtual feast for Kennedy lovers. The book could serve as a university course on the life of the family, chronicling five matrilineal generations in our nation's foremost political dynasty. It provides a poetic panorama of the history of American womanhood, as we are taken from the life of Bridget Murphy Kennedy, who arrived steerage class on an immigrant vessel to work as a servant in the slums of Boston, to the presentation of Joseph Kennedy's daughters to the Queen of England, to John F. Kennedy's White House, through discussions of the future Kennedy matriarchs Caroline Kennedy Scholossberg, Maria Shriver Schwartzenegger, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, & Rory Kennedy.

Wonderful, in-depth portraits with much new material are given of all the Kennedy women, particularly the ubiquitous Jackie, Ethel, & Eunice, & the mentally challenged Rosemary, whose story in all its horror & duplicity is revealed in detail.

It isn't often that one mourns coming to the end of a book. Although The Kennedy Women covers 933 pages, I was saddened to find myself on the last page.

BRAV0! BRAVO! BRILLIANTLY DONE
"For the most part Rose grandchildren observed and respected and obeyed her, tiptoeing around her life as if she were an exquisite piece of porcelain. She had led such a decorous life, blocking out the untoward, the ugly, and the unacceptable, that her eyes no longer saw the darker colours of the spectrum. "Pat drank a bottle of wine in the morning," Rose was told. "That's impossible" Rose replied, Pat doesn't drink"

I was glad that I read this book because it has helped me to understand so much more about this so much talked about family. In Mr. Leaner's book we get to know about the Kennedy women's personal thoughts and the correct stories of the daughters and daughters-in-law. Mr.Leamer has given us indept portraits of these women and my favourite is Rose Kennedy the Matriarch of the family. For Rose was a woman so strong and who suffered great disloyalty by her husband which she took all gracefully all for the sake of her family and what she supposed the public expected of them. She was a stern Catholic and gain her strength through her prayer and trust in God.
Also portrayed are Joan Kennedy; Ted wife who had a problem with alcohol. Jackie Kennedy Onnassis; the President's wife who remarried after the President's death to a Greek tycoon. Pat Lawford; married to a Hollywood star and spent most of her time in Los Angeles. Eunice Shriver, who was always working for the handicapped and underprivileged and was one of the Kennedys with great patience and common sense. Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's widow and Jean Smith.
The Kennedys pushed their tragedies to the inner recesses of their minds.They refused to let others see the negative side of their lives, and carried their problems and burdens inwardly taking pains not to show their broken hearts. To some this might seem pretentious, but they honestly had their reasons. After all they were special in the eyes of America.
Whenever tragedy struck it was not unusual for them to suddenly get physical by taking walks, riding, swimming and any form of exercise. Rosemary the eldest daughter who was mentally retarded was isolated from the public eye and sent to Wisconsin where she was looked after by those of the Sacred Order. This book has helped me to understand so much more about the choices they made and the reason they made them, though tragedy seem to follow them everywhere.

Mr. Leamer has pulled out all the stops in the brilliantly written book, and I would not hesitate to read anything by him in the future. Bravo! Bravo! Heather Marshall 04/04/04

A compassionate portrait
When the Kennedy's entered the White House, everybody assumed that they were the perfect family. Following assasinations and tabloid headlines, the men were subsequently were criticized for fast living and political decisions.

The women, once ideal images of feminity became scorned for being the "ideal helpmate". For years, the press did not want to cover the women in anything other than fashion and family. Although Jackie despised the "little wife" role, she nonetheless went with it for the sake of election.

This book does a good job reconcilling the two methods of examination. For the first time, we get a well rounded picture of America's most famous family as seen through the eyes of women. Thanks to the separate spheres approach that prevailed until the late 20th century. If JFK's sisters were political, it was under the non-threating guise of community service and volunteer work.

Although Rose Kennedy was considered a tradditional matriarch, no other book had touched her subconcious desire to enter into politics or her intial revulsion of Joe Sr's womanizing. Thus, the dislike of Jackie (many people did not realize how much policy making influence she had) becomes all of the more ironic.

Younger generations of Kennedy women such as Kathleen Kennedy Townsend have also continued this tradition, but have sought (and won) elected office in their own right. RFK's youngest daughter, Rory, is an avowed feminist activist. This book would be of interest to anybody studying political dynastys and or the Kennedy family in particular. Because it balances the positives and negatives of it's focus, the book is well balanced and easy to read. Be warry of imitators because this is the definitive work.