Once Upon a Time

The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy

De: Elizabeth Beller

Narrado por: Emily Tremaine

The inspiration for the FX series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

A NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

This “intimate and sympathetic portrait of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy that is as enthralling as she was” (Dana Thomas, New York Times bestselling author) reexamines her life and legacy as never before. 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 “reveals the true woman behind the mystery, and what a woman she turns out to be: fabulous, fierce, fashionable, flawed…formidable” (J. Randy Taraborrelli, New York Times bestselling author). When she began dating America’s prince, Carolyn was thrust into an overwhelming spotlight filled with cruelly 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, the truth is finally unveiled.

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.

Based on in-depth research and exclusive interviews with friends, family members, teachers, roommates, and colleagues, and featuring never-before-seen family photos, this comprehensive biography reveals a multifaceted woman worthy of our attention regardless of her husband and untimely death.

Exaggeratingly Fawning

The author incessantly wrote about how “stunningly beautiful” Carolyn was. How strangers stared in awe (insert eye roll), how she had to have early curfew due to her gorgeousness, etc etc etc.
She was attractive, but often appeared downright homely and strange looking. This unnecessary focus on her arguable astounding physical beauty distracts from the fact that her confidence, generosity and charisma were enough to draw others in and make an impact.
The book is unnecessarily overly complimentary because there are many stories and experiences that people have had with her that refute this saintly portrayal. An honest depiction of herand all her human flaws would have made a more authentic read.

Good story. Performance is grating

Story is good. A bit too hard an attempt to make her Saint Caroline by friends but a lot of information that was previously unknown.

Narrators voice is incredibly grating though. Really hard to continue so I stopped and bought the hard copy

Once Uoon a Time

Very Interesting and liked the perspective Helps to understand the people they were Liked hearing quotes from their close friends

Excellent book.

Excellent book but you’d think the narrator would at least be certain to know how the last names of key players should be pronounced. Bouvier is not “Bow-vwar”, it’s pronounce Boo-vee-yay”. 😆

Who Carolyn really was and that she and John John Kennedy were in love.

The fact that the media can be 'fake news' all over the world. That was and still is today unfortunate for the both of them.