The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters, Sam Kashner
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters, Sam Kashner
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The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters
The Tragic and Glamorous Lives of Jackie and Lee

Bestseller

Author: Sam Kashner

Narrator: Bernadette Dunne

Unabridged: 10 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 09/25/2018


Synopsis

A poignant, evocative, and wonderfully gossipy account of the two sisters who represented style and class above all else—Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill—from the authors of Furious Love.When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees—but nothing to her. ""I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime,"" read Jackie’s final testament. Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of twentieth-century fashion, design, and style.In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty—in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry—and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both loved the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet, early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored, Jack Vernou Bouvier, at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives.For the first time, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner and acclaimed biographer Nancy Schoenberger tell the complete story of these larger-than-life sisters. Drawing on new information and extensive interviews with Lee, now eighty-four, this dual biography sheds light on the public and private lives of two extraordinary women who lived through immense tragedy in enormous glamour.

About Sam Kashner

Sam Kashner is the author of four nonfiction books, including the memoir When I Was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School, and one novel, Sinatraland. He has written extensively for Vanity Fair as a contributing editor.  Nancy Schoenberger is the author of Dangerous Muse: the Life of Lady Caroline Blackwood; Wayne and Ford: the Films, The Friendship, and the Forging of an American Hero; and three prize-winning books of poetry.  She teaches at The College of William and Mary where she directs the Creative Writing Program. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tammy

I’ve never been enormously fascinated by the Kennedys but as an American of a certain age, it is impossible not know more than you need to know about their triumphs and tragedies. However, I didn’t know much about Lee Radziwill so I thought I would give this a try. As the title states, this book is......more

I originally read this in July, then lost my first review when I went to post it. So this is just what I could remember. I found this to be very much to my liking for the most part, as I’ve always enjoyed reading about Jackie and wanted to know more about her family and her sister Lee. This book pro......more

Goodreads review by Nancy

This is a very readable, but not compelling, biography of Jackie Kennedy and her sister Lee Radziwell. It is hardly the author's fault that I found these women less than admirable, but in some ways I was sorry that I read enough about them to dislike both women. Their competitiveness was the essence......more

Digital Audio narrated by Bernadette Dunne. The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Tragic and Glamorous lives of Jackie and Lee The book jacket notes that when Jackie Kennedy Onassis died she left numerous bequests to friends and family, but nothing to her sister. Jackie’s will stated: I h......more