Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot

This was one wild ride into the Camelot zone written by the guy that gave us "Sinatra" a couple of years back, which I loved. Author J. R. Taraborelli focuses here on the Kennedy women and manages to turn what could be a really dull subject about three spoiled, self-indulgent babes into something that is much bigger and more interesting than you'd imagine. The book completely explains why they stayed in marriages that didn't work, and how each went on to bigger and greater things after they were finished with their husbands (all of whom were pretty big jerks, let's face it, even if they were great politicians.) Taraborelli has one keen sense of human behavior, too. He knows how to make these women jump off the page, and if you liked the way he portrayed tough-talking-but-sensitive Frank Sinatra as much as I did then you'll appreciate this book. So I give this one five big stars for a wild ride into the Camelot zone by a writer who is completely out of control with these incredibly entertaining books every couple of years.

I married into a large Catholic family and can sort of identify with this. You don't marry just the man, you marry his whole freakin' family. I have read literally hundreds of Kennedy books and felt I knew it all. Actually I didn't. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters come off as real people, not demons or deities. I believe this book made me actually like Jackie for the first time. I've always liked Ethel and Joan.

I really loved this book for so many reasons and I can't encourage you enough to read it. It's chock full of information on Jackie, Ethel and Joan Kennedy, but it's never dull or plodding. It actually draws you in from the opening chapter and goes on to weave a complicated tale of three famous women who you may think you know - but learn more and more about as the book goes on. Taraborrelli has achieved a perfect example of biography at it's best because it's written by an author who knows and understands his subjects. Like putting the pieces together to a complicated puzzle he carefully brings each character to life using historical facts and never before heard anecdotes. He somehow managed to get first-time interviews with reliable sources so there's quite a few shocking revelations. But even the most lurid details are presented with compassion and integrity. Believe me, there are greater ingredients here than any mini-series writer could dream up: power, sex, money, betrayal and fame - with backdrops that include the White House, Hollywood, and Europe. There's Jackie - the complicated first lady, sometimes strong, sometimes insecure. Ethel, the first of the women to marry into the Kennedy family but who was soon overshadowed when the glamorous and provocative Jackie married the first born son. And Joan, beautiful, sensitive and totally unprepared for the high pressure life of living in a fish bowl. It is fascinating to read how these three ladies - each one very different from the other - interacted when they were forced into "sisterhood" when they married into the illustrious Kennedy family. Each woman was extremely complicated with different areas of strengths and vulnerabilities. They somehow learned to get from each other whatever it was they were lacking in themselves so that, combined, the three women made up the perfect "Kennedy Wife." Taraborrelli shows that during each significant moment in their lives, the wives banded together - in triumph and tragedy, through joy and suffering. Even with all their money and fame and power Jackie, Ethel and Joan had to struggle all their lives against extraordinary odds because of the complications of being the wives of the most famous brothers of this 20th century. "Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot" is a perfect read....historic and informative while being entertaining and glitzy. By the way, the chapters about the wives' dealings Marilyn Monroe alone are worth the price of admission.

"Jackie, Ethel, Joan -- Women of Camelot" is such a wonderful and exciting read. It is both fascinating and touching -- often having me in tears. Each character is so well defined, by the end of the book the reader feels that he or she has truly lost a "friend." The way Jackie assisted poor Joan during Joan's times of crisis in her marriage and with her alcoholism was beautifully documented by the author, who had great sources. And Ethel's eccentricities, yet the way they all loved her despite them, reminded me of so many women in my own family. I was also happy to see that the picture of Jackie painted here by author Taraborrelli is so unique. Unlike in other books about her, he doesn't dwell on silly things like her spending habits, but rather on how she related to the other people in her family, always with grace and dignity. Sometimes she could be a little bitchy ... but that was Jackie, too, and the author writes about that side too. And I loved the way Jackie handled her husband, so self-empowered in her refusal to let him believe that she was naive to his unfaithfulness. The material about Jackie and Marilyn Monroe held me spell-bound. Please buy and read this great book, "Jackie, Ethel, Joan," if you really want to laugh, cry and have a good time. I loved it.