A vivid, intimate biography of Ethel Kennedy written by her daughter Kerry Kennedy, who takes us inside the life of an American icon through her firsthand memories and exclusive access to her mother’s unpublished writings.
When her husband Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, Ethel Skakel Kennedy—then pregnant with their eleventh child—drew national attention for her grace, dignity, and resolute commitment to furthering his work in human rights, even in her grief. But as no one knows better than her daughter, Kerry, Ethel was so much more than a dutiful wife and keeper of Robert’s extraordinary legacy of service. She was extraordinary in her own right: courageous, curious, compassionate, and witty, always guided by faith and an instinct for speaking truth to power.
At once a deeply-researched biography and an intimate tribute, Ethel tells the remarkable story of this woman who spent more than seventy years at the center of American political life, but always remained somewhat enigmatic to the public. Kerry delves into her own memories, her family’s recollections, and her mother’s private papers to paint a true-to-life portrait of her beloved mother, one that captures her humor, resilience, and hope. Until her recent passing, Ethel was the last survivor of Camelot, and she is remembered as a pillar of endurance, strength, and religious belief who rarely revealed anything about her interior life to the media. With a daughter’s insight and care, as well as access to family papers and unpublished letters not available to historians or journalists, Kerry tells her story:
Ethel’s family’s journey from a working-class Chicago background to life in the tony Greenwich, Connecticut
Ethel’s fairytale romance with Kerry’s father RFK—a courtship that inspired a Taylor Swift song half a century later
How the bold, athletic Ethel quickly became “more Kennedy than the Kennedys”
The years on the famed family properties in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and the Hickory Hill estate in Virginia, where Kerry and her ten siblings grew up amidst presidents and politicians, Olympians and Hollywood stars, and a rambunctious menagerie of pet animals
Moments of pain and loss—RFK’s assassination just five years after that of his brother; and the tragic deaths of two of Kerry’s siblings
Ethel’s unflagging commitment to global human rights causes that carried on through the decades
Ethel offers an account of all that she accomplished as a wife, matriarch, and political activist, who inspires us to reject cynicism and to live bigger and bolder.
Ethel includes sixteen pages of color photographs,
Kerry Kennedy is a human rights lawyer, activist, New York Times-bestselling author, and daughter of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Kerry is the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the organization Ethel founded in 1968 to continue Robert’s unfinished work, and served as chair for the Amnesty International USA Leadership Council for over a decade. During her forty years working in human rights, she has led hundreds of delegations and negotiated with leaders around the globe. She is the author of three previous books: Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope; Speak Truth to Power; and Being Catholic Now.
Kennedy will be joined in conversation with Michael Beschloss, the author of nine books on presidential history, including, most recently, the New York Times bestsellers Presidents of War, Presidential Courage and The Conquerors, as well as two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s White House tapes. He was also editor of the number-one global bestseller Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy. He is the NBC News Presidential Historian and a PBS NewsHour contributor and has received an Emmy and six honorary degrees.