White House by the Sea
A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
“Impeccably researched…captivating!” —Elin Hilderbrand * “A well-paced history.” —The New York Times Book Review * “Fascinating…with new details and well-sourced reporting.” —Associated Press
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The intimate, multigenerational story of the Kennedy family as seen through their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Cod—the iconic place where they’ve celebrated, mourned, and bonded—based on more than a hundred in-depth interviews by a Rolling Stone editor and journalist Kate Storey.
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America’s most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husband’s assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knot—and even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift. Anyone who has lived in, worked at, or visited the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port has had a front-row view to history. Now, with extraordinary access to the Kennedy family—and featuring more than fifty rarely-seen images—journalist Kate Storey gives us a remarkably intimate and poignant look at the rhythms of an American dynasty.
Drawing from a wealth of conversations with family members, friends, neighbors, household and security staff, Storey presents a rich and textured account of the Kennedys’ lives in their summer refuge. From the 1920s, when Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy rented then bought a home known as The Malcolm Cottage, to today, when many Kennedys have purchased their own homes surrounding what’s now called The Big House, this book delivers many surprising revelations across the decades, including what matriarch Rose considered the family’s greatest tragedy, the rivalrous relationship between brothers Jack and Joe, details about Jackie’s life at the compound, and previously unknown glimpses into JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s loving and ill-fated relationship.
“Engaging and…intimate anecdotes that often stand in contrast to predominant, media-created perceptions...Readers will come away with new insights and due appreciation for this uniquely American dynasty” (Booklist, starred review).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Storey debuts with an immersive behind-the-scenes history of the Kennedy family viewed through the lens of their summer home in Hyannis Port, Mass. Malcolm Cottage, built in 1904, became known as the Big House after Joseph Kennedy bought it in 1928 for $25,000. He doubled its footprint to accommodate his nine children, who started bringing their own families in the 1950s, when "it seemed every new year brought a new Kennedy." It was at the Big House that Rose and Joe Kennedy learned that their eldest son, Joe Jr., was killed in action during WWII; decades later, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, and her sister died in a plane crash off the coast of nearby Martha's Vineyard. Storey enriches her history in interviews with more than 120 sources—including Kennedy family friend Nancy Tenney, who was "like one of the children"—and sheds light on Joseph Kennedy's affair with actress Gloria Swanson, the bad behavior of Robert Kennedy Jr. and other members of the "Hyannis Port Terrors" in the 1970s, Ted Kennedy's final days spent battling a brain tumor at the Big House, and more. Full of vivid profiles and intriguing asides about the history of Cape Cod, this is a compassionate portrait of America's most famous political dynasty.
