by Sam Kashner
First published 2018
Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger examine the complex bond between Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill through extensive interviews with Lee herself. The authors reveal how these sisters shared passions for art, Russian culture, and Greek islands while competing for their father's attention at East Hampton. Jackie became her father's favorite while Lee won their mother's affection. One sister achieved global icon status while the other remained in her shadow. The book traces their relationship from childhood through Jackie's death at sixty four, when Lee discovered Jackie's thirty eight page will contained substantial bequests for family and employees but excluded her entirely. Kashner draws on candid conversations with Lee, now eighty four, to illuminate how rivalry and jealousy threaded through their closest relationship. The dual biography reveals both public achievements and private struggles of two women who navigated immense tragedy while maintaining extraordinary glamour throughout the twentieth century.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, sibling-rivalry
Setting: East Hampton
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
336 pages · Hardcover · Harper