Come to the Edge

A Memoir

When Christina Haag was growing up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was just one of the boys in her circle of prep-school friends, a skinny kid who lived with his mother and sister on Fifth Avenue and who happened to have a Secret Service detail following him at a discreet distance at all times. A decade later, after they had both graduated from Brown University and were living in New York City, Christina and John were cast in an off-Broadway play together. It was then that John confessed his long-standing crush on her, and they embarked on a five-year love affair.

Glamorous and often in the public eye, but also passionate and deeply intimate, their relationship was transformative for both of them. With exquisite prose, Haag paints a portrait of a young man with an enormous capacity for love and an adventurous spirit that drove him to live life to its fullest.

A haunting book, Come to the Edge is a lasting evocation of a time and a place - of the indelible sting of the loss of young love, and of the people who shape you and remain with you, whether in person or in spirit. It is about being young and full of hope, with all the potential of your life as yet unfulfilled, and of coming of age at a moment in New York’s history when the city at once held danger, magic, and endless possibilities for self-discovery. Rarely has a love story been told so beautifully.

©2011 Christina Haag (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Despite her intimate view, Haag is careful not to exploit the Kennedy clan; instead, she simply returns them to human form. An honest, heartfelt account of love, politics and tragedy." ( Kirkus Reviews)

" Come to the Edge perfectly captures what it feels like to be young and in love - the giddiness, the lunacy, the madcap swings between exhilaration and despair…. Haag is a beautiful writer, and the book [is] full of wonderfully vivid descriptions." ( Entertainment Weekly)

Beautifully done

Loved this sweet love story and the interweaving of these two friends. The story about young people finding their way.

Beautifully written

I should not write reviews just after finishing the book but I am because this one won’t leave me be. It keeps stepping back into my thoughts and I have so many questions. I feel tremendous grief for the end of their love story and then ultimately the loss of John, Carolyn and her sister. All so tragic and just horrific I will never forget that night or the days that followed and I did not know any of them personally. I can understand her heartbreak to learn he had married and then on Cumberland. I understand she was telling a story of her relationship with John, but in the process I came to care about her, I want to know what happened after, how she recovered from Breast Cancer, that she is okay and found a great love after him. I know only what she has shared in this book. I am 2 years older, so much of what she writes of those years, I remember. Growing up in high school in the 70’s and into adulthood in the 80’s and what it felt like to be young and in love for the first time.
Most people do not have to see their former love splashed across the magazines. What it must have felt to watch the media and public’s obsession with Carolyn. It would have been so hard for me. In summary I will just say it’s an excellent book and it will not leave you easily.

Wonderful, heartfelt , respectful & honest

This is a great memoir ; heartbreaking and a lovely tribute not only to JFK Jr and his mother but also to Martha’s Vineyard and the life they enjoyed together , time frequently spent on MV , with loving attention to MV details , it’s history, lore, and geography.

There is so much we didn’t know…

There is so much we didn’t know of the story of John’s time with Christina… The author provides more than a glimpse, a full view into her time with John and the deep friendship and love they shared. The story is written with beautiful detail and read in a way that allows you to not only hear but feel the memories. Thank you for sharing Christina.

Such a beautiful study

This is such a great love story. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I think John and Christina would have been a very happily married couple.