And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis by Stephanie Marie Thornton: A Book Review

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

Author: Stephanie Marie Thornton

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: 2020

Pages: 480

Source: Publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: An intimate portrait of the life of Jackie O…

Few of us can claim to be the authors of our fate. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy knows no other choice. With the eyes of the world watching, Jackie uses her effortless charm and keen intelligence to carve a place for herself among the men of history and weave a fairy tale for the American people, embodying a senator’s wife, a devoted mother, a First Lady—a queen in her own right.

But all reigns must come to an end. Once JFK travels to Dallas and the clock ticks down those thousand days of magic in Camelot, Jackie is forced to pick up the ruined fragments of her life and forge herself into a new identity that is all her own, that of an American legend.

My Review: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was one of America’s most fashionable First Ladies. She was also a symbol of America’s strength on the dark day when her husband, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In this historical retelling of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s life, Jackie is shown as a wife, mother and ultimately a survivor.

And They Called It Camelot is a very personal and intimate look at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In this novel, it felt like the First Lady’s own autobiography. The reader got to delve into her head as she goes through her two marriages with her husbands- John F. Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a strong character and had to go through many personal tragedies. She lost three of her children. Both of her husbands were unfaithful to them, and she had to bury them. My heart ached for her each time she had to face a loss. However, I admired her courage to rouse herself out of grief to support her own children. Her children were her strengths. Thus, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was mostly a wife and a mother first and was America’s First Lady second. She was also a woman of perseverance.

Overall, this novel was an in-depth psyche of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. All the characters were very complex. I thought Mrs. Thornton depicted the infamous historical figures very well, especially John F. Kennedy. He was shown as a very complex person who frequently reverted to his bachelor’s ways. My favorite aspect of this novel was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s relationship with Bobby Kennedy. And They Called It Camelot was a very engrossing read from the first page till the last! Even though it is long, it was a novel that I did not want to end! The novel was very fast-paced that begins by detailing her courtship with John F. Kennedy! This novel will linger with you long after you have finished reading the last page! I recommend this novel for fans of The Kennedy Debutante, The Lost Diary of M, and The Pink Suit! And They Called It Camelot is a symptom banquet for anyone that loves reading about America’s First Ladies!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Blog Tour: Guest Post by Shelley Stratton: Trolley Cars, the Metro, and Bringing Historical Settings to Life

Shelly Stratton is the author of She Wears the Mask . This interesting guest post discusses how she incorporates realistic details and facts about streetcars from the early 20th century, which were common long before her birth. Mrs. Stratton describes her love of these older modes of public transportation as well as how she felt a joy and kinship with those who patronized these iconic symbols of urban transportation throughout the industrial age. Thank you, Mrs. Stratton! Trolley Cars, the Metro, and Bringing Historical Settings to Life By Shelly Stratton Decades ago, whenever I visited my great grandmother and great aunt in NW Washington, D.C., they would always ask me, “Did you drive in or take the trolley car here?” As I removed my coat or stowed away my umbrella, I would politely correct them with “I took the metro.” But after correcting them so many times and both of them persistently referring to the metropolitan transit ...

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki: A Book Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Release Date: February 15, 2022 Pages: 381 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweath...

Kateryn Parr: Henry VIII's Sixth Queen by Laura Adkins: A Book Review

Kateryn Parr: Henry VIII’s Sixth Queen Author: Laura Adkins Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Pen and Sword History Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 185 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Kateryn Parr is mainly remembered today as being the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, the one who 'survived'. Kateryn was not only a wife but a queen, mother, reformer, and author. Kateryn would face a number of events in her lifetime including being held to ransom during the Pilgrimage of Grace, being placed as regent while Henry was in France, a role which only one of his five previous wives held, her namesake Katherine of Aragon, and overcame a plot which would have led to her arrest and execution. While Queen she was able to unite the Tudor family and establish some form of happiness for Henry VIII's three children. Raised by her mother Maud Parr, under a humanist education, Kateryn was intelligent enough to understand her role in life...

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Search This Blog