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

Guest Post by Aleksey Linetskiy: The Women Behind the Klondike Story

Today's guest writer is Aleksey Linetskiy. He is the co-author of Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , which is a unique yearly subscription in which the reader reads a story by mail. In this guest post, he introduces us to a few historical women of the Klondike era. Some of these women are Alice Freeman, Flora Shaw, and Helen Dare. Thank you, Mr. Linetskiy! The Women Behind the Klondike Story Before we began writing Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , my partner, Alona Umansky, and I spent a great deal of time researching the Klondike Gold Rush. We were interested in finding the stories of people who maybe didn’t become rich and famous but still went through the experience of a great stampede. As we were reading the newspapers of the time and firsthand accounts, it became very clear to us that we wanted to tell at least part of the story through the women’s eyes. There were so many incredible women who underto...

The Female Tudor Scholar and Writer: The Life and Times of Margaret More Roper by Aimee Fleming: A Book Review

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Anne Neville: Queen and Wife to Richard III by Rebecca Batley: A Book Review

Anne Neville: Queen and Wife to Richard III Author: Rebecca Batley Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Pen & Sword History Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 256 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Anne Neville, often seen as a victim depicted by Shakespeare, was a powerful and influential figure in medieval England. Daughter, Wife, Princess, Widow and Queen: Anne Neville had many faces. Shakespeare presents her to us as a woman consumed with rage, bitterness and grief. He has her cursing the killer of her husband and father, before marrying him and condemning herself to despair. She rages, screams and weeps but ultimately she is shown as nothing more than a passive victim of the men who used and exploited her. This could not be further from the truth. Born into one of the most powerful dynasties in medieval England, Anne knew her worth, and her power. She was a great survivor escaping the tide of blood that consumed Eng...

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

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