by Amber Hunt
First published 2014
Rose Kennedy watches her sons rise to power while burying too many of them. Jackie transforms from senator's wife to First Lady to widow on national television. Ethel raises eleven children while her husband campaigns for justice. Joan struggles with alcoholism as her marriage crumbles in the spotlight. Vicki finds love with Ted Kennedy in his final chapter. Hunt follows these five women through their marriages to Kennedy men, exploring how they balanced private grief with public duty. Each wife faced unique challenges. Rose leaned on her Catholic faith through repeated losses. Jackie reinvented herself after Dallas. Ethel channeled her energy into activism after Bobby's assassination. Joan battled personal demons while playing the political wife. Vicki helped rehabilitate Ted's legacy in his later years. The novel reveals how these women shaped the Kennedy mystique while carrying burdens that fame could not ease. Their stories illuminate the price of American royalty.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, biography-memoir, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Dallas, United States
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
ebook · Lyons Press
Content warnings: death