Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy Hardcover – May 21, 2024

I didn't know anything about CBK beyond post mortem tabloid snippets & the famous wedding dress. I'd seen a good looking 20-something JFK Jr roller blading & riding the bus around town, but never gave him much thought. This bio, drawn from significant research and interviews with multiple sources, presents CBK as a smart, vivacious, happy, savvy woman who had a strong career in the fashion business - rapidly rising at Calvin Klein which was no small feat - and many friends long before JFK Jr arrived in her life.Oddly, the book offers as much of a look at JFK Jr as it does CBK. His friends - many of whom considered CBK to be "non-prep school, non-Ivy" - saw her as a threat to their proximity to John & were the source of many of the vicious, cruel, lies that were spread about her. Really? Did they think he was never going to grow beyond the cool college guy into a 39 yr old whose wife would be more important to him than they were?The paparazzi hounded her until she became reclusive yet she was criticized for not working after marriage. She couldn't leave the apt because paps were positioned there 24/7. Her experience w/them is described as something close to trauma & her husband seemed to not understand it even though his mother was notable for getting a restraining order against 1 particular aggressive pap. CBK is pushed against an elevator by a mob of them & her husband does nothing. Much was made of her low dose antidepressants that washed up on a beach after the crash - sounds perfectly natural for someone to seek psych help after years of being hunted.It's not until p. 238 that one of John's friends is quoted as saying what I'd begun to think - why isn't he at least moving her to a building w/a doorman? hiring security? Why is a couple whose celebrity has become so enormous so quickly without professional management for business & social purposes? John's magazine was launched just as the internet starting the decline in paper magazines why not push re-set with business management? John seems completely out of touch w/reality when he claims that his mom raised her kids in NYC so why is CBK reluctant to get pregnant w/JFK III? He totally ignores that John's mother lived in the White House when he was a toddler and then married Onassis to raise her kids on a private island in Greece to get away from the publicity following his father's assassination. She wasn't pushing a stroller alone in the narrow streets of Tribeca!The author gives a balanced account of the marriage to the extent that any outsider could. They died before they'd been married 4 years so there were adjustments to be made & given that they were both Catholic wouldn't have taken divorce - if it was ever mentioned - lightly.It's a good and credible read.

The life and legacy of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy Jr., are reexamined in this captivating and effervescent biography that is perfect for fans of My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy, What Remains, and Fairy Tale Interrupted.A quarter of a century after the plane crash that claimed the lives of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn, and her sister Lauren, the magnitude of this tragedy remains fresh. Yet, Carolyn is still an enigmatic figure, a woman whose short life in the spotlight was besieged with misogyny and cruelty.Amidst today’s cultural reckoning about the way our media treats women, Elizabeth Beller explores the real person behind the tabloid headlines and media frenzy. When she began dating America’s prince, Carolyn was increasingly thrust into an overwhelming spotlight filled with relentless paparazzi who reacted to her reserve with a campaign of harassment and vilification.To this day, she is still depicted as a privileged princess—icy, vapid, and drug-addicted. She has even been accused of being responsible for their untimely death, allegedly delaying take-off until she finished her pedicure. But now, she is revealed as never before.A fiercely independent woman devoted to her adopted city and career, Carolyn relied on her impeccable eye and drive to fly up the ranks at Calvin Klein in the glossy, high-stakes fashion world of the 1990s. When Carolyn met her future husband, John was immediately drawn to her strong-willed personality, effortless charm, and high intelligence. Their relationship would change her life and catapult her to dizzying fame, but it was her vibrant life before their marriage and then hidden afterwards, that is truly fascinating.My Thoughts:I am a fan of all things Kennedy and felt a special connection to Little John-John, the young boy who saluted at his father’s funeral.Plus, the handsome young man kept all eyes turned in his direction, especially during the years his mother Jackie kept us intrigued.His marriage to Carolyn Bessette was another draw for me. Who doesn’t love watching the “prince and princess” of the New York world.Even more were we drawn in at the horrific and tragic plane crash that took them from us.I had to read Once Upon a Time to learn more about their lives together. Despite the speculation and the crush of paparazzi, there was a special appeal that would linger long for those of us who love a “fairy tale story,” even when there are hints of darkness in it. A 4.5 star read.***

This is a book about the inner lives of two people who look great on the outside - exceptionally good-looking and socially connected with exciting and stylish lives. This is their love story - completelycomplicated filled with inner turmoil - in stark contradiction to their outer beauty. In the middle ofthis adjustment to each other and to life, they were killed in a plane accident - after less than fouryears of marriage.. I found them both interesting and sensitive and anxious and stalked by thepapparazzi - being with John Kennedy leaves little room for privacy - Carolyn, a private person,married John, who is comfortable with being a public person. This is their struggle - and their untimelydeath in a plane piloted by John - well-written and interesting and compassionate - all good.

This is a book about Carolyn, a girl who tragically died too soon along with her sister and JFK Jr., her husband. The problem is that the author for the most part regurgitates what has already been written about her by people who actually knew and loved her. It's painful to read the minimizing of relationships and then using information from these persons' books. I did enjoy the history of Carolyn's childhood, which I hadn't read about before. It gave a clearer understanding of who she was as an adult and the angst she carried with her. Marriages are not fairytales, even when famous people are involved. We will never know how John Jr. and Carolyn would have worked out if they had been given more time. Both were flawed and yet good people, maybe better separately as neither were caretaker types. This book smacks of Me-Too-Movement vibe. All this happened in another time that only people who were young then will know to be true and understand.