This is yet another book on the Kennedy family, but told from a different perspective. I picked up the book at a library sale and saw that it had spent some time on the best seller list. Radziwill is a good writer; she had been trained as a reporter and her writing displays that skill. She tells her story of a young girl brought up on the wrong side of the railway tracks in a large dysfunctional family, but a loving one. As a child she was allowed to run wild with her cousins, and saw a side of life that many children don’t see. While Radziwill was not exactly a Cinderella, she did meet her prince, eventually swept him off his feet and married him. But they did not live happily ever after.
Shortly after their marriage, Anthony Radziwill is faced with the fight of his young life against the cancer which eventually kills him. The book tells of the struggle of both Anthony and Carole to overcome daunting odds. Anthony was the son of Lee Radziwill, Jackie Kennedy’s sister, and best friend of his cousin, John Kennedy. Carole writes beautifully of their close friendship, and with her own close friendship with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Added to the sadness and bad fortune that beset the Kennedy family, is the story of the tragic last flight of John and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. On the night their plane plunged into the water off Martha’s Vineyard, they were on their way to meet the Radziwills who were staying in the Kennedy home on the island.
While all the money in the world did not save these loving cousins from their tragic fate, Radziwill handles the story with compassion and bravery. Ultimately the book is a sad one, but there are many uplifting moments of resiliency and courage, friendship and love. I recommend the book as a different and intimate look into lives of privilege and fame.
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