First published 1999
Christopher P. Andersen opens the private world of Jackie Kennedy Onassis that remained concealed from public view. The author documents her devastating psychological collapse following the assassination in Dallas, when suicidal thoughts consumed the former First Lady. Andersen traces her path from widow to woman, revealing her romantic entanglements with Hollywood stars Marlon Brando and Warren Beatty that the press never discovered. The biography exposes her complex marriage to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, showing a relationship far different from what the world imagined. Andersen follows Jackie through her final battle with cancer, capturing how she faced death with the same grace that defined her public persona. This intimate portrait strips away the mythology surrounding America's most enigmatic widow to reveal the flesh and blood woman beneath the legend.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Dallas, Greece
Period: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
542 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Warner Books
Content warnings: suicide, terminal-illness