(6/4/2018)
We have all read about the males of the Kennedy family - Joe, Jack, Bobby and Teddy and many books have been written about them and their father. Very few books have been written about the females of the family and I knew very little about them. 'The Kennedy Debutante' is about Kathleen Kennedy - nicknamed Kick. She is the fourth child in the family, right after Joe, Jack and Rosemary. It's an in depth look at her life beginning in England when her father becomes the American ambassador. As the story begins, she is being presented into society at the beginning of her debutante season in 1938. As she becomes part of the social season in London, she makes friends with the elite young people in London and gets very close to Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire and a devout Protestant. Her strict Catholicism (as well as that of her devout mother, Rose) keeps them from taking their feelings to the next level. When WWII breaks out and the Kennedy family returns to the States, Kick has to make a decision over whether her love for Billy or the beliefs of her family are the most important to her future.
This book was a wonderful look at an member of the Kennedy family that had not been written about much in the past. Along with Kick's story, there is a lot about the rest of the family, the way the parents doted on the boys and the dad included Joe and Jack in his decision making, the problems with Rosemary, plus a tidbits about all of the other kids in the family. For a family with so many words written about them over the years, this was a refreshing look at them that was full of new information for most readers.
I highly recommend this book and predict that it will be on of the popular MUST READS of the fall.
Thanks to BookBrowse for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.