New York Times Bestseller
“McKeon's delightful memories have been tucked away for fifty years, and thankfully, she has brought them out to share the enchanting magic of Camelot with us all.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Celebrity watchers who covet an insider’s role will find McKeon’s frank yet benevolent memoir to be both a sobering reality check and an engaging foray into the ever-fascinating world of the Kennedy dynasty.” —Booklist
An endearing coming-of-age memoir by a young woman who spent thirteen years as Jackie Kennedy’s personal assistant and occasional nanny—and the lessons about life and love she learned from the glamorous first lady.
In 1964, Kathy McKeon was just nineteen and newly arrived from Ireland when she was hired as the personal assistant to former first lady Jackie Kennedy. The next thirteen years of her life were spent in Jackie’s service, during which Kathy not only played a crucial role in raising young Caroline and John Jr., but also had a front-row seat to some of the twentieth century’s most significant events.
Because Kathy was always at Jackie’s side, Rose Kennedy deemed her “Jackie’s girl.” And although Kathy called Jackie “Madam,” she considered her employer more like a big sister who, in many ways, mentored her on how to be a lady. Kathy was there during Jackie and Aristotle Onassis’s courtship and marriage and Robert Kennedy’s assassination, dutifully supporting Jackie and the children during these tumultuous times in history.
A rare and engrossing look at the private life of one of the most famous women of the twentieth century, Jackie’s Girl is also a moving personal story of a young woman finding her identity and footing in a new country, along with the help of the most elegant woman in America.
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“McKeon’s memoir reveals the author’s self-deprecating humor and her deep love of the children and their iconic mother, all smoothly delivered in Moloney’s lilting Irish accent. Always authentic, the accent is not intrusive or an impediment to comprehension, even when Robert Kennedy is assassinated and other events of great emotion occur… Some may remember the actual sound of Jackie Kennedy’s quiet, almost hushed voice in her live broadcast appearances, and it is in depicting this that Moloney’s talent shines. She captures Jackie’s confidence, intelligence, and fierce protectiveness of her children in her words and tone. Sometimes nostalgically moving and sad, yet always filled with Jackie’s powerful life force, this should draw young and old listeners alike.”
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Booklist (starred audio review)