A new biography of the American 'royal family' provides revealing details about the rise and fall of the political clan
The Kennedy family has been an inexhaustible source of news from the beginning of the 20th century until today, with a history always as linked to success as it is to misfortune. And now the saga of this political clan has a new chapter in a fictionalized biography called 'The House of Kennedy', published this week and written by James Patterson.
Although some of the most important moments in the history of the Kennedys are well known, because they changed the course of United States history - such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 or that of his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, five years later, during the presidential campaign, the author of the book delves into some surprising and lesser-known anecdotes.
"In July 1969, Ted Kennedy wonders aloud if a curse hangs over all the Kennedys," Patterson, 73, writes in the foreword to his novel. And of course, the curse of the closest thing Americans have to a real family is an idea that endures over time. Without going any further, two members of the clan drowned at the beginning of this month.
Among the most interesting revelations that 'The House of Kennedy' provides is the one that concerns the then budding relationship between JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier and how the former first lady knew that her love would end with a broken heart.
The late president was known for his affairs, also after his marriage, but after their first meeting Jackie thought that despite the pain she foresaw he was going to suffer, what they did would be worth it. Of the politician, Patterson writes that "to Jack she was a challenge and Jack liked nothing more than a challenge."
Together they would arrive years later to occupy the White House, she would lose two babies and raise two others, Caroline and John Jr., before the tragic assassination occurred.
Already widowed, Jackie continued with the mission of protecting her husband's legacy and married millionaire Aristotle Onassis, two decades her senior. She was 64 when she died of cancer in May 1994, five years before her son died along with her wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren, in a small plane crash. One of many episodes in the endless black family legend.
