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The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family

Author: Laurence Leamer

Publication Year: 1994

Number of pages: 935 (129 are notes/bibliography)

Approximate amount of time this book has been in my closet: 5 years

Where I read a majority of this book: laying in the sun, sitting along the canal

Quick Take: One of the best books I’ve ever read, I give it my highest recommendation

Favorite Quote(s): “Kathleen was like a firefly, illuminating a scene, and then suddenly disappearing to shine for a brilliant moment somewhere else.”

It was April of 2013. I was nearing the end of my senior year of high school. Taylor Swift was on the cover of Vanity Fair. I found a copy on the rack of magazines at my public library and immediately jumped into the multi-page exposé. Re-reading the article now seems sort of ironic, partially because her accolades have doubled since then, but also because at the time the idol of my adolescence was merely 23-years-old—the same age I am now. The feature was written shortly after the release of her fourth album Red, just before her deep dive into the pop world, and right around the time that she was reaching true “icon” status. All of which conveniently coincided with the rumored relations between her and America’s Royal Family.

The magazine posed questions about Taylor’s short-lived romance with Bobby Kennedy’s grandson, Conor. She explained that her fascination with the family, however, came long before their relationship, noting that she had once “read all 900 pages of Laurence Leamer’s The Kennedy Women.” That was all I needed to place a Barnes & Noble order.

I started reading this book the second it was dropped on my doorstep and continued on through the beginning chapters as my high school graduation loomed. Alas, it’s dense pages proved to be too much that summer and consequently The Kennedy Women traveled to-and-from college with me for four years. It proved to be a good conversation piece among my friends and I often picked it up to page through certain stories, but I never sat down to tackle it in full. Until this past Spring.

Like so many others, I’ve spent forever ogling over Jackie and the years of Camelot. What I love about this book, however, is the credit it so rightly awards each female member of the Kennedy clan beyond their simple relation to Jack and Bobby. It begins with the story of Bridget Murphy, the family matriarch, who made the great voyage from Ireland to America in 1849. The book then details Rose Fitzgerald’s upbringing as the Mayor of Boston’s daughter--long before her marriage to Joe Kennedy and their life as parents of nine. Eventually, Leamer goes on to chronicle the stories of each of Rose’s daughters—Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, and Jean.

It goes without saying that the Kennedy’s are one of the most entertaining, fantastical, and deeply flawed families in American history. From their charming mannerisms to bizarre idiosyncrasies, Leamer does an extraordinary job of illustrating each personality in great detail. He brings the memoirs to life with appropriate historical context, including myriad secondary characters of the time (Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, etc.)

An outstanding tale of an American dynasty—with emphasis on the women. Well worth the 800+ pages. I highly recommend!