Book Report: America's Queen

I recently finished reading this biography of Jackie Kennedy by Sarah Bradford, and while I have read books about her before, this one was truly the most honest portrayal of her yet. While it was a bit salacious at parts, it left no stone unturned, including some of the less savory rumors that abound about her and JFK's relationship. In other words, if someone was sleeping with someone important to this book, you read about it. However, it also paints an incredibly realistic portrait of the first lady and all of her relationships - romantic, professional, familial, and otherwise. You recognize her flaws, such as the competitive and sometimes toxic relationship with her sister, Lee, as well as her strengths, such as her love for her children and determination to raise them to be good people. There is a significant amount of the book dedicated to her work on restoring the White House to its historic glory, which I personally couldn't get enough of. You can't take the art history major out of the art history department I guess! 

The book was also very sad at some parts, as you get all the details about her sometimes disastrous relationships with men, starting with JFK and including her second marriage to Aristotle Onassis. Her several miscarriages are also gone over, but, by the end of the book, you are left feeling that all of these challenges are what made her the person who ended up as a book editor in a happy relationship at the end of her life. However, as I said before, the book really does paint a complete picture, and leaving out the sad bits wouldn't give the reader that. 

Anyway, if you're at all interested in Jackie Kennedy, I would definitely pick up this book. 

Until next time, 

xo 

T