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The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters
A poignant, evocative, and wonderfully gossipy account of the two sisters who represented style and class above all else—Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill—from the authors of Furious Love.
When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees—but nothing to her. "I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime," read Jackie’s final testament. Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of twentieth-century fashion, design, and style.
In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty—in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry—and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both loved the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet, early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored, Jack Vernou Bouvier, at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives.
For the first time, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner and acclaimed biographer Nancy Schoenberger tell the complete story of these larger-than-life sisters. Drawing on new information and extensive interviews with Lee, now eighty-four, this dual biography sheds light on the public and private lives of two extraordinary women who lived through immense tragedy in enormous glamour.
When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees—but nothing to her. "I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime," read Jackie’s final testament. Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of twentieth-century fashion, design, and style.
In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty—in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry—and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both loved the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet, early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored, Jack Vernou Bouvier, at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives.
For the first time, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner and acclaimed biographer Nancy Schoenberger tell the complete story of these larger-than-life sisters. Drawing on new information and extensive interviews with Lee, now eighty-four, this dual biography sheds light on the public and private lives of two extraordinary women who lived through immense tragedy in enormous glamour.
336 pages, ebook
First published September 25, 2018
957 people are currently reading
3767 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 317 reviews
August 23, 2018
I’ve never been enormously fascinated by the Kennedys but as an American of a certain age, it is impossible not know more than you need to know about their triumphs and tragedies. However, I didn’t know much about Lee Radziwill so I thought I would give this a try. As the title states, this book is about the sibling rivalry between Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her sister Lee Radziwill. It follows their journey from childhood through Kennedy Onassis’ death and beyond. Fraught with jealousy, estrangement and periods of closeness, their sisterhood is mainly about lives lived in pursuit of wealth and its accompanying accoutrements. It's quite gossipy and neither Kennedy Onassis nor Radziwill fare well in this telling but their relationship was the most complicated and important of their lives. There is always a big Kennedy book for the fall publishing season and this one will be “it”.
September 11, 2018
I originally read this in July, then lost my first review when I went to post it. So this is just what I could remember. I found this to be very much to my liking for the most part, as I’ve always enjoyed reading about Jackie and wanted to know more about her family and her sister Lee. This book provided that and quite well. During their heyday these two ladies were always fascinating as they were in the news, dressed in something noteworthy, dating someone noteworthy and usually up to something just as noteworthy. They were always up to something you wanted to know about, or just had been or were about to be, it seemed like. They just had fascinating lives, compared to ours. They couldn’t help it, that’s just how it was going to be. They were born for it to be that way.
There were times the sisters were close and got along well, but not long ones. There was just too much rivalry over men pulsing between them. And Lee didn’t like all of the power that Jackie’s position as First Lady gave her. It made her feel ‘less than’ and like just a hanger on all the time. Though she did like the perks that came with being part of Jackie and the President’s entourage could bring at times. Lee had her own talents and liked having her own friends and circle of influence, away from the Kennedy’s. She had a mind of her own and often just did her own thing, including infidelity, `not caring who liked it. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by Edelweiss, authors Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger, and the publisher for my fair review.
Harper Collins
Pub: Sept. 25th, 2018
My Bookzone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
There were times the sisters were close and got along well, but not long ones. There was just too much rivalry over men pulsing between them. And Lee didn’t like all of the power that Jackie’s position as First Lady gave her. It made her feel ‘less than’ and like just a hanger on all the time. Though she did like the perks that came with being part of Jackie and the President’s entourage could bring at times. Lee had her own talents and liked having her own friends and circle of influence, away from the Kennedy’s. She had a mind of her own and often just did her own thing, including infidelity, `not caring who liked it. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by Edelweiss, authors Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger, and the publisher for my fair review.
Harper Collins
Pub: Sept. 25th, 2018
My Bookzone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
August 23, 2022
Sisters are weird.
I have a sister and she's a weirdo, but luckily I'm a weirdo too. My sister and I don't have a contentious relationship, we're not jealous of each other and we rarely fight. I think that's mostly due to the fact that she's 10 years older than me. She didn't want to be an only child and she prayed every Sunday at church for a little sister....That's Me!
Maybe if we were closer in age, we might be at each other's throats. I think it also helps that we are completely different. Other than being sister's we don't have anything in common...which I like. I like that we dress differently, we like different music and movies and even on the rare occasions we do like the same thing it's for different reasons.
All of this to say, I can't relate to the relationship between Jackie Onassis and her little sister Lee Radziwill. They were only 4 years apart and the shared must things in common. They were in competition with each other for an early age and for good small chunk of time Lee was actually the star....but than Jackie married Jack Kennedy and it was game over. From that day on Lee was living under the long shadow of Jackie.
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters examines the often fraught relationship between the sisters. I mean Jackie stole Lee's man and married him. Lee dated Aristotle Onassis first but than Jackie came through and swooped him....Now maybe that was revenge for Lee sleeping with Jack Kennedy "allegedly "...but come on everybody slept with Jack Kennedy.
I'm so happy that my sister and I are just poor weirdo sisters who actually like each other. Jackie and Lee's relationship was toxic and it seems like part of the reason for this was the fact that they were raised in a snooty society. Family is different for rich people.
I enjoyed this deep dive into the lives of two interesting women who had an impact on our society. This is the second book I've read about Jackie and Lee and God it just makes me feel sad that these women couldn't just be normal people.
If you enjoy learning about fascinating women, than you might enjoy this book.
I have a sister and she's a weirdo, but luckily I'm a weirdo too. My sister and I don't have a contentious relationship, we're not jealous of each other and we rarely fight. I think that's mostly due to the fact that she's 10 years older than me. She didn't want to be an only child and she prayed every Sunday at church for a little sister....That's Me!
Maybe if we were closer in age, we might be at each other's throats. I think it also helps that we are completely different. Other than being sister's we don't have anything in common...which I like. I like that we dress differently, we like different music and movies and even on the rare occasions we do like the same thing it's for different reasons.
All of this to say, I can't relate to the relationship between Jackie Onassis and her little sister Lee Radziwill. They were only 4 years apart and the shared must things in common. They were in competition with each other for an early age and for good small chunk of time Lee was actually the star....but than Jackie married Jack Kennedy and it was game over. From that day on Lee was living under the long shadow of Jackie.
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters examines the often fraught relationship between the sisters. I mean Jackie stole Lee's man and married him. Lee dated Aristotle Onassis first but than Jackie came through and swooped him....Now maybe that was revenge for Lee sleeping with Jack Kennedy "allegedly "...but come on everybody slept with Jack Kennedy.
I'm so happy that my sister and I are just poor weirdo sisters who actually like each other. Jackie and Lee's relationship was toxic and it seems like part of the reason for this was the fact that they were raised in a snooty society. Family is different for rich people.
I enjoyed this deep dive into the lives of two interesting women who had an impact on our society. This is the second book I've read about Jackie and Lee and God it just makes me feel sad that these women couldn't just be normal people.
If you enjoy learning about fascinating women, than you might enjoy this book.
May 15, 2018
This is a very readable, but not compelling, biography of Jackie Kennedy and her sister Lee Radziwell.
It is hardly the author's fault that I found these women less than admirable, but in some ways I was sorry that I read enough about them to dislike both women. Their competitiveness was the essence of this biography--and, real or imagined, it did not present either one in a very positive light.
There is no argument that they were both style icons, but their beauty, style and fame seemed to contribute to their base behavior, rather than inspire them to rise above their demons. Kasher and his co-author Nancy Schoenberger gamely tried to present both women as intelligent and cultured, but it was impossible for the reader to ignore all the niggling little stories that added up to the conclusion that they were extremely mercenary, competitive with each other, status-seeking and perhaps back-stabbing. I was sorry to learn all this. IF either had a philanthropic side, it was ignored by the authors. IF they showed a love for their friends or community, it was not a part of this story.
Certainly, some readers who are better informed about these two women will enjoy reading the anecdotes included in this book. If there was any balance in their lives, it did not come out in this telling of their tale.
It is hardly the author's fault that I found these women less than admirable, but in some ways I was sorry that I read enough about them to dislike both women. Their competitiveness was the essence of this biography--and, real or imagined, it did not present either one in a very positive light.
There is no argument that they were both style icons, but their beauty, style and fame seemed to contribute to their base behavior, rather than inspire them to rise above their demons. Kasher and his co-author Nancy Schoenberger gamely tried to present both women as intelligent and cultured, but it was impossible for the reader to ignore all the niggling little stories that added up to the conclusion that they were extremely mercenary, competitive with each other, status-seeking and perhaps back-stabbing. I was sorry to learn all this. IF either had a philanthropic side, it was ignored by the authors. IF they showed a love for their friends or community, it was not a part of this story.
Certainly, some readers who are better informed about these two women will enjoy reading the anecdotes included in this book. If there was any balance in their lives, it did not come out in this telling of their tale.
January 21, 2020
Digital Audio narrated by Bernadette Dunne.
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Tragic and Glamorous lives of Jackie and Lee
The book jacket notes that when Jackie Kennedy Onassis died she left numerous bequests to friends and family, but nothing to her sister. Jackie’s will stated: I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, lee B Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime.” Ouch.
Based on interviews with Lee Radziwill and various friends of both Lee and Jackie, the authors have crafted a mini biography and exploration of their complicated and tight relationship, from children of divorced parents, to women married to powerful and/or wealthy men. Like any siblings there were disagreements, rivalries, jealousy, fierce loyalty, affection, and competition. Living so much of their adult lives in the spotlight certainly contributed to some of these feelings.
All told I found it fascinating and full of the kind of gossip that enthralls me. It’s an interesting look at the dynamic between these two sisters and their claims to fame.
Bernadette Dunne did a marvelous job of reading the audio version. She set a good pace, and her narration held my attention.
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Tragic and Glamorous lives of Jackie and Lee
The book jacket notes that when Jackie Kennedy Onassis died she left numerous bequests to friends and family, but nothing to her sister. Jackie’s will stated: I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, lee B Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime.” Ouch.
Based on interviews with Lee Radziwill and various friends of both Lee and Jackie, the authors have crafted a mini biography and exploration of their complicated and tight relationship, from children of divorced parents, to women married to powerful and/or wealthy men. Like any siblings there were disagreements, rivalries, jealousy, fierce loyalty, affection, and competition. Living so much of their adult lives in the spotlight certainly contributed to some of these feelings.
All told I found it fascinating and full of the kind of gossip that enthralls me. It’s an interesting look at the dynamic between these two sisters and their claims to fame.
Bernadette Dunne did a marvelous job of reading the audio version. She set a good pace, and her narration held my attention.
July 22, 2019
This interesting book provides intimate details about the lives of sisters
Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Born into a socially prominent New York family and in a pre-feminist era, the sisters were brought up with expectations that they would marry well and live lives of privilege.
Based on articles and public records, interviews with Lee as well as with family, friends and colleagues of both sisters, authors Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger reveal the private and public personalities of the Bouvier women. Until the very last years of her life, Lee struggled to escape the shadow of her older sister. Their relationship as siblings was one of closeness as well as one of intense rivalry and jealousy.
It’s a fascinating story of a bygone era and the facts, gossip, and myths that surrounded these well known women.
Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Born into a socially prominent New York family and in a pre-feminist era, the sisters were brought up with expectations that they would marry well and live lives of privilege.
Based on articles and public records, interviews with Lee as well as with family, friends and colleagues of both sisters, authors Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger reveal the private and public personalities of the Bouvier women. Until the very last years of her life, Lee struggled to escape the shadow of her older sister. Their relationship as siblings was one of closeness as well as one of intense rivalry and jealousy.
It’s a fascinating story of a bygone era and the facts, gossip, and myths that surrounded these well known women.
October 17, 2018
The rendering of these 2 essentially shallow and spoiled sisters is neither good nor bad - it tells the story. it is hard to come away with much admiration for the sisters who life revolved around the pursuit of money and beauty - to the extent that at a White House dinner Jackie instructed that only "beautiful" guest were to be included. Lee was once upset at having to move to a "smaller penthouse". The feeling is that neither of these women would have ever been noteworthy in any way without the incredible gifts that life and circumstances endowed on them.
October 27, 2018
Another Kennedy book? Yes, please. Sign me up--always. I'm always fascinated by sister relationships in general, because I have a sister, and I'm a mom to sisters, and I don't think there's any more special yet complex relationship dynamic in existence. And, of course, the relationship between Lee and Jackie is the most complicated of the most complicated. I feel for Lee, who is fascinating (and beautiful, and stylish) in her own right but she'll never not be a footnote to Jackie. Imagine your sister being not only the most famous woman in the world, but the most lauded and adored. This was a very fast read but because it covers so many decades it can at times feels a little cursory and too much of a summary. Of course, this could just be due to the fact that I've written a Kennedy book myself and although it was fiction, I read hundreds upon hundreds of books to research it, so I know the details better than a casual readers and minutia is not always important to a storyline. Also, this is a Bouvier book technically, so I wholly understand why Kennedys were sort of pushed into the background.
One thing I found very strange was that there was no mention of Jack's Addison's disease. Or, if there was, I missed it. I even checked the index and it wasn't listed. Again, this is about Lee and Jackie, not him, but when the authors referred to his back problems it was dismissed in the same way it always was by the family: oh, just an old war injury, nothing to see here. It did make me wonder, since Lee seems to be the primary source of new info, what storylines were honest and which had that good old PR spin.
Overall, a very fast and interesting read, and a touching portrayal of two complex sisters.
One thing I found very strange was that there was no mention of Jack's Addison's disease. Or, if there was, I missed it. I even checked the index and it wasn't listed. Again, this is about Lee and Jackie, not him, but when the authors referred to his back problems it was dismissed in the same way it always was by the family: oh, just an old war injury, nothing to see here. It did make me wonder, since Lee seems to be the primary source of new info, what storylines were honest and which had that good old PR spin.
Overall, a very fast and interesting read, and a touching portrayal of two complex sisters.
April 17, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up.
A chronicle of the loving yet complex relationship between Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, and her sister Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross.
At times, the women were close and inseparable; at other times, they were engaged in a seemingly fierce rivalry for frankly, who knows what? Attention? Social status? Love? The alleged rivalry seem to be mostly on Lee’s part, as she struggled to get out from under her older sister‘s mystique. Throughout her whole life Lee seemed to feel like she was always playing second fiddle to her sister. Although Lee granted several interviews for this book before her death in 2019, she does not come off well. Although both sisters can be considered avaricious in terms of money and how they want to be “kept“ by their men (all their husbands bemoaned their rapacious spending habits) Lee never managed to achieve Jackie’s status in terms of wealth, reputation, and iconography.
In the end, I never felt like I understood Lee. Although she is supposedly a style icon in terms of clothing and decor, and very learned in literature, the arts, history, etc., she comes across as flighty, shallow, a social climber and a dilettante. At one point, she was one of Truman Capote‘s “Swans”: women who focus on their looks, style, who leads self important lives, but don’t have any impact on the real world.
There is a lot of gossip in this book which, for me, is not a problem. It is why I read these books and indulge in a little voyeurism.
Lee and Jackie inhabited a world that I will never understand, but I sure do enjoy reading about it.
A chronicle of the loving yet complex relationship between Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, and her sister Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross.
At times, the women were close and inseparable; at other times, they were engaged in a seemingly fierce rivalry for frankly, who knows what? Attention? Social status? Love? The alleged rivalry seem to be mostly on Lee’s part, as she struggled to get out from under her older sister‘s mystique. Throughout her whole life Lee seemed to feel like she was always playing second fiddle to her sister. Although Lee granted several interviews for this book before her death in 2019, she does not come off well. Although both sisters can be considered avaricious in terms of money and how they want to be “kept“ by their men (all their husbands bemoaned their rapacious spending habits) Lee never managed to achieve Jackie’s status in terms of wealth, reputation, and iconography.
In the end, I never felt like I understood Lee. Although she is supposedly a style icon in terms of clothing and decor, and very learned in literature, the arts, history, etc., she comes across as flighty, shallow, a social climber and a dilettante. At one point, she was one of Truman Capote‘s “Swans”: women who focus on their looks, style, who leads self important lives, but don’t have any impact on the real world.
There is a lot of gossip in this book which, for me, is not a problem. It is why I read these books and indulge in a little voyeurism.
Lee and Jackie inhabited a world that I will never understand, but I sure do enjoy reading about it.
January 20, 2019
Okay, I am going to be upfront with you and tell you that I am a sucker for books written about Jackie Kennedy. I have admired that woman since I was an 8 year old kid, watching the coverage of JFK’s funeral. Her dignity and beauty just caught me, even back then.
It was refreshing to find a book that looked at both Jackie and her beautiful socialite sister, Lee Bouvier Radziwill, without spite or gushing. Both sisters were presented warts and all, but in a kind and empathetic manner. The author examined both and sought to understand the forces that made them who they were - or are, in Lee’s case, who is still alive and full of spirit and cogency at 85.
Whether you admire or despise the Kennedys and the Bouviers, this book functions as a time traveling machine, taking us back to a time in elite American culture where women of a certain class were taught to marry wisely (i.e., wealthy spouses) and to do so as soon as possible. Their worth was dependent upon the men they married, and they often looked aside as those men dallied with other women. In the Lee’s case, she was an exception - she did the dallying as she scaled society’s heights, stepping over several husbands and lovers to do so. Lee tried so hard to break free of the strictures of her set, attempting acting, running an interior design business, touring with The Rolling Stones as a witness to their backstage lifestyle. Jackie comes across as more pragmatic than passionate; her passion was reserved for her beloved books, which were at her side when she died.
The complicated love/hate relationship between the two sisters is sympathetically explored, and I gained an appreciation for both women. Despite their jet set (and what some may consider vacuous) lives, they were intelligent, sensitive women of a certain time and class, caught in the changing mores of American culture - and were witness to and participants in some of the most dramatic periods in mid 20th century history.
It was refreshing to find a book that looked at both Jackie and her beautiful socialite sister, Lee Bouvier Radziwill, without spite or gushing. Both sisters were presented warts and all, but in a kind and empathetic manner. The author examined both and sought to understand the forces that made them who they were - or are, in Lee’s case, who is still alive and full of spirit and cogency at 85.
Whether you admire or despise the Kennedys and the Bouviers, this book functions as a time traveling machine, taking us back to a time in elite American culture where women of a certain class were taught to marry wisely (i.e., wealthy spouses) and to do so as soon as possible. Their worth was dependent upon the men they married, and they often looked aside as those men dallied with other women. In the Lee’s case, she was an exception - she did the dallying as she scaled society’s heights, stepping over several husbands and lovers to do so. Lee tried so hard to break free of the strictures of her set, attempting acting, running an interior design business, touring with The Rolling Stones as a witness to their backstage lifestyle. Jackie comes across as more pragmatic than passionate; her passion was reserved for her beloved books, which were at her side when she died.
The complicated love/hate relationship between the two sisters is sympathetically explored, and I gained an appreciation for both women. Despite their jet set (and what some may consider vacuous) lives, they were intelligent, sensitive women of a certain time and class, caught in the changing mores of American culture - and were witness to and participants in some of the most dramatic periods in mid 20th century history.
August 2, 2019
Basically, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her sister, Lee, dated and married shitty men.
December 15, 2018
A poignant, evocative, and wonderfully gossipy account of the two sisters who represented style and class above all else—Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill—from the authors of Furious Love.
When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees—but nothing to her. "I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime," read Jackie’s final testament.
Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of twentieth-century fashion, design, and style.
In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty—in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry—and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both loved the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet, early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored, Jack Vernou Bouvier, at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives.
My Thoughts: Since I am a fan of all things Jackie, as well as the Kennedys, I was excited to learn more about her sisterhood bond with Lee Radziwill; therefore, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters flew off the shelf and into my hands. The story began with Jackie’s shocking will, in which she left nothing to Lee.
Sweeping back in time to their beginnings, we explore their relationship with each other: their rivalries at home; their basic differences; and the sense of favoritism for Jackie by their father, all of which set the stage for an intense competition between them.
Over the years, they were alternately close and distant, the competitiveness a constant, even as their sisterhood bond would win out in times of crisis. At those times, they were usually there for each other.
I liked learning more about Lee’s life after she decided to follow Jackie’s example by pursuing a profession. For Lee, interior design was her special talent, and I loved reading about the homes she decorated, including some of her own.
Jackie’s bookish tastes had taken her into publishing, which suited her temperament and skills.
By this time, both were living in Manhattan apartments, but each had summer homes on the islands. They had discovered that they loved spending time with their children as extended family, offering the closeness between the cousins that they had always enjoyed with each other.
But the push and pull of their relationship continued, and by the time they each had more traumatic losses in their later years, some of which were financial for Lee, the differences between them grew. Sadly, their chance for the closeness they longed for was no longer there. A poignant tale of sisters, losses, and how family ties can only carry one so far. 4.5 stars.
When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees—but nothing to her. "I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime," read Jackie’s final testament.
Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of twentieth-century fashion, design, and style.
In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty—in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry—and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both loved the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet, early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored, Jack Vernou Bouvier, at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives.
My Thoughts: Since I am a fan of all things Jackie, as well as the Kennedys, I was excited to learn more about her sisterhood bond with Lee Radziwill; therefore, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters flew off the shelf and into my hands. The story began with Jackie’s shocking will, in which she left nothing to Lee.
Sweeping back in time to their beginnings, we explore their relationship with each other: their rivalries at home; their basic differences; and the sense of favoritism for Jackie by their father, all of which set the stage for an intense competition between them.
Over the years, they were alternately close and distant, the competitiveness a constant, even as their sisterhood bond would win out in times of crisis. At those times, they were usually there for each other.
I liked learning more about Lee’s life after she decided to follow Jackie’s example by pursuing a profession. For Lee, interior design was her special talent, and I loved reading about the homes she decorated, including some of her own.
Jackie’s bookish tastes had taken her into publishing, which suited her temperament and skills.
By this time, both were living in Manhattan apartments, but each had summer homes on the islands. They had discovered that they loved spending time with their children as extended family, offering the closeness between the cousins that they had always enjoyed with each other.
But the push and pull of their relationship continued, and by the time they each had more traumatic losses in their later years, some of which were financial for Lee, the differences between them grew. Sadly, their chance for the closeness they longed for was no longer there. A poignant tale of sisters, losses, and how family ties can only carry one so far. 4.5 stars.
December 24, 2018
3.5/5.0 This was a fascinating book about Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her younger sister, Lee Radziwill. There was much I already knew about these women, but I also learned things I didn't know. Such as, Jackie was a life long smoker and Lee had an affair with Onassis before Jackie married him. It was a bit dry in parts, but a comprehensive look at their lives and those of the people closest to them.
September 24, 2019
This book was a fast, fun and interesting read. It’s filled with anecdotes, interviews and photographs and gave me a deeper understanding of the sisters. I appreciated that the Kennedys didn’t dominate the story — only fleeting mentions — and that the book focused on Jackie and Lee. It was sad that both were always in competition with each other and seemed unable to enjoy their own talents.
October 26, 2018
If you want a gossipy but thoroughly well-researched and well-told biography, look no further than Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger’s latest collaboration, THE FABULOUS BOUVIER SISTERS. So much has been documented and published about the famous sisters, each having their own jam-packed histories of extraordinary highs and epic lows. So what more could be said? Here, we see the women in the light of their relationship to each other, which makes the book a standout. Also, it benefits greatly from extensive interviews with Lee, now in her mid-80s, looking back on both their public and private lives.
Born on Long Island in 1929 and 1933, respectively, Jackie and Lee were born into wealth --- sometimes abundant, other times tenuous. Their parents’ volatile relationship ended in divorce when the girls were young, each believing that one parent favored the other child: “If Jackie was her father’s favorite, Lee, by some accounts, was her mother’s.” A longtime Kennedy friend who knew the sisters when they were in their late teens admitted that she “found that household to be really unhealthy. Their mother clearly favored Lee.” And if Jack Bouvier was especially close to Jackie, “he wasn’t around very much, or for very long, so that didn’t equal out, really.” This environment left its mark on each of the sisters in different ways. Jackie retreated into books, horses and art, while Lee longed for other children, even going so far as taking a cab to a local orphanage in an effort to adopt another sister. With their mother’s remarriage to wealthy investment banker Hugh D. Auchincloss, they saw their immediate family’s station rise, while their charming father’s nest egg dwindled.
Both Jackie and Lee were sent to Miss Porter’s exclusive boarding school in Connecticut and received a classical education for girls of their station. In the wake of their parents’ divorce and mother’s remarriage, they grew closer, but even given their bond, a “certain jockeying for attention continued between the two girls.” They were alike in so many ways --- both treasured all things beautiful, adored the arts, and all things European, especially French and Russian, and each possessed their own style, which matured and evolved over time. But they were also “different in important ways. One loved to stand out; one sought to fit in. One was outgoing, flirtatious, and fun-loving; the other was bookish and intellectual, with a deep thirst for knowledge…. The great irony of their lives is that fate handed shy, introverted Jackie a role on the world stage…and Lee, who longed to shine, was handed the lesser role of lady-in-waiting.”
In adulthood, their paths would diverge. Jackie married John F. Kennedy, and became First Lady when her husband became the youngest U.S. president in history in January 1961. By this time, Lee was married to her second husband, Stas Radziwill, the scion of an aristocratic Polish family, granting his new wife the title of “Princess.” Each had an immensely full life, but life in the White House tended to trump Lee’s accomplishments: “Her sister’s ascension to the White House promised to magnify a problem Lee had to cope with for some time, the problem simply of being Jackie’s sister. Although she was abundantly gifted herself and was quite capable of shining on her own, she had often been obscured by the shadow of her sister’s prominence, and now that shadow threatened to eclipse her identity…. If Lee felt any sibling resentment of her sister’s success, however, she was brave and intelligent enough not to show it.”
While her husband was a leader on the world stage, Jackie made sure to leave her mark on the White House, intending to restore some former glory while also bringing it to the forefront of American style. As her friend and favorite fashion designer, Oleg Cassini, remarked, “Jackie wanted to do Versailles in America.” Between the renovations and her incredibly successful foreign tours, where throngs of people came out just to catch a glimpse of what the First Lady was wearing, or how she was doing her hair, a Kennedy insider keenly observed, “There was nobody to touch Jackie using style as a political tool.” Despite their sibling rivalry, when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, it was Lee who Jackie turned to in her grief. As Jackie adjusted to her post-White House life with her children, Lee’s life also took a turn.
Much like her mother, after having two children, Anthony and Tina, Lee became disillusioned with her marriage to Stas, and it wasn’t long before she began looking farther afield. Her close friend, Truman Capote, once posited, “When you are a very, very rich girl, you don’t marry the same way a real girl marries. You marry the way another person travels in a foreign country. You stay there until you tire of it, then you go elsewhere.” It was as if the yoke of proper behavior was lifted after JFK’s assassination: “After the death of my brother-in-law,’ Lee admitted years later, ‘I was finally free.” Encouraged by Capote (their friendship could be a book in itself), Lee decided to give acting a try. She was more adventurous in her love life as well, pursuing dancer Rudolph Nureyev, photographer/adventurer Peter Beard, and even wealthy Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Yes, the same Artistole Onassis who would go on to wed Jackie in 1968. How’s that for a recipe for sibling friction?
One would think there couldn’t be much more to say about Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill, but THE FABULOUS BOUVIER SISTERS proves otherwise. So many gossipy stories and recollections fill this breezy and entertaining, yet informative, read. To see these two impressive women through a sisterly lens is a new take on an oft-told story. Fans of JACKIE, ETHEL, JOAN and other society memoirs like IT SEEMED IMPORTANT AT THE TIME will devour this latest book about two women whose lives saw great triumph and deep sorrow, and was anything but a fairy tale.
Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller
Born on Long Island in 1929 and 1933, respectively, Jackie and Lee were born into wealth --- sometimes abundant, other times tenuous. Their parents’ volatile relationship ended in divorce when the girls were young, each believing that one parent favored the other child: “If Jackie was her father’s favorite, Lee, by some accounts, was her mother’s.” A longtime Kennedy friend who knew the sisters when they were in their late teens admitted that she “found that household to be really unhealthy. Their mother clearly favored Lee.” And if Jack Bouvier was especially close to Jackie, “he wasn’t around very much, or for very long, so that didn’t equal out, really.” This environment left its mark on each of the sisters in different ways. Jackie retreated into books, horses and art, while Lee longed for other children, even going so far as taking a cab to a local orphanage in an effort to adopt another sister. With their mother’s remarriage to wealthy investment banker Hugh D. Auchincloss, they saw their immediate family’s station rise, while their charming father’s nest egg dwindled.
Both Jackie and Lee were sent to Miss Porter’s exclusive boarding school in Connecticut and received a classical education for girls of their station. In the wake of their parents’ divorce and mother’s remarriage, they grew closer, but even given their bond, a “certain jockeying for attention continued between the two girls.” They were alike in so many ways --- both treasured all things beautiful, adored the arts, and all things European, especially French and Russian, and each possessed their own style, which matured and evolved over time. But they were also “different in important ways. One loved to stand out; one sought to fit in. One was outgoing, flirtatious, and fun-loving; the other was bookish and intellectual, with a deep thirst for knowledge…. The great irony of their lives is that fate handed shy, introverted Jackie a role on the world stage…and Lee, who longed to shine, was handed the lesser role of lady-in-waiting.”
In adulthood, their paths would diverge. Jackie married John F. Kennedy, and became First Lady when her husband became the youngest U.S. president in history in January 1961. By this time, Lee was married to her second husband, Stas Radziwill, the scion of an aristocratic Polish family, granting his new wife the title of “Princess.” Each had an immensely full life, but life in the White House tended to trump Lee’s accomplishments: “Her sister’s ascension to the White House promised to magnify a problem Lee had to cope with for some time, the problem simply of being Jackie’s sister. Although she was abundantly gifted herself and was quite capable of shining on her own, she had often been obscured by the shadow of her sister’s prominence, and now that shadow threatened to eclipse her identity…. If Lee felt any sibling resentment of her sister’s success, however, she was brave and intelligent enough not to show it.”
While her husband was a leader on the world stage, Jackie made sure to leave her mark on the White House, intending to restore some former glory while also bringing it to the forefront of American style. As her friend and favorite fashion designer, Oleg Cassini, remarked, “Jackie wanted to do Versailles in America.” Between the renovations and her incredibly successful foreign tours, where throngs of people came out just to catch a glimpse of what the First Lady was wearing, or how she was doing her hair, a Kennedy insider keenly observed, “There was nobody to touch Jackie using style as a political tool.” Despite their sibling rivalry, when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, it was Lee who Jackie turned to in her grief. As Jackie adjusted to her post-White House life with her children, Lee’s life also took a turn.
Much like her mother, after having two children, Anthony and Tina, Lee became disillusioned with her marriage to Stas, and it wasn’t long before she began looking farther afield. Her close friend, Truman Capote, once posited, “When you are a very, very rich girl, you don’t marry the same way a real girl marries. You marry the way another person travels in a foreign country. You stay there until you tire of it, then you go elsewhere.” It was as if the yoke of proper behavior was lifted after JFK’s assassination: “After the death of my brother-in-law,’ Lee admitted years later, ‘I was finally free.” Encouraged by Capote (their friendship could be a book in itself), Lee decided to give acting a try. She was more adventurous in her love life as well, pursuing dancer Rudolph Nureyev, photographer/adventurer Peter Beard, and even wealthy Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Yes, the same Artistole Onassis who would go on to wed Jackie in 1968. How’s that for a recipe for sibling friction?
One would think there couldn’t be much more to say about Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill, but THE FABULOUS BOUVIER SISTERS proves otherwise. So many gossipy stories and recollections fill this breezy and entertaining, yet informative, read. To see these two impressive women through a sisterly lens is a new take on an oft-told story. Fans of JACKIE, ETHEL, JOAN and other society memoirs like IT SEEMED IMPORTANT AT THE TIME will devour this latest book about two women whose lives saw great triumph and deep sorrow, and was anything but a fairy tale.
Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller
May 15, 2019
This is a deliciously gossipy book, giving me a peek into the wealthy world of the Kennedys, the Bouviers, and the Radziwills. Not knowing a whole lot about Lee Radziwill, I was very interested in learning more about her, so I enjoyed reading the tales of the places she went, dear friends of hers (particularly the stories of Truman Capote), and all of the homes in the Hampshires (can't forget the Beales!). I wasn't always impressed with the character of these two sisters, particularly their focus on marrying well. Money can really bring out the ugliness in people and it certainly seemed to do that at times with Jacqueline and Lee. I'd known about Jacqueline's rather cruel note explaining publicly that she wasn't leaving anything in her will to her sister because she'd provided for her in life, but I hadn't realized
November 3, 2019
This is a very interesting account of the lives and relationship between the two Bouvier sisters -Jackie and Lee. While I've read countless stories about Jackie over the years, I had read little about Lee and her life. What was interesting to me was the rivalry between the two - for men, money and fame (despite Jackie's claims and wishes for privacy). Lee as the younger sister, was seemingly always chasing Jackie, jealous of her marriage to Jack (did she really bed him at one point during Jackie's marriage to him - yikes!).
Equally interesting was the author's description of both women's personalities. Neither seem like very nice or engaging women who were kind to others. In fact they sometimes came off as downright cruel; especially Lee. Neither appeared to have had true friends...only people in their social circles from whom they could benefit from their acquaintence. Perhaps they took too to heart Janet's advice on making a good marriage - i.e., a money marriage -because it seemed neither woman ever really found true happiness or love. Perhaps Lee with Peter Beard and perhaps Jackie truly loved Jack, despite forgiving his many side relationships.
They may have been fabulous in many ways: beautiful, elegant, a courturier's delight, interior designers, spenders of other's wealth, just to name a few; but in this author's view they come off as shallow, manipulative, and yes, as gold-diggers. Still a great read.
Equally interesting was the author's description of both women's personalities. Neither seem like very nice or engaging women who were kind to others. In fact they sometimes came off as downright cruel; especially Lee. Neither appeared to have had true friends...only people in their social circles from whom they could benefit from their acquaintence. Perhaps they took too to heart Janet's advice on making a good marriage - i.e., a money marriage -because it seemed neither woman ever really found true happiness or love. Perhaps Lee with Peter Beard and perhaps Jackie truly loved Jack, despite forgiving his many side relationships.
They may have been fabulous in many ways: beautiful, elegant, a courturier's delight, interior designers, spenders of other's wealth, just to name a few; but in this author's view they come off as shallow, manipulative, and yes, as gold-diggers. Still a great read.
November 12, 2018
I'm curious about the "fabulous Bouvier Sisters" but this book had really nothing much to offer beyond other peoples' reporting, and an interview or two with Lee Radziwill. But it was a quick read, and if you don't know anything about either woman, you might learn something...
August 3, 2019
Due vite intense, tra agi, fama e tanto dolore. Una storia di forza di carattere, ma anche di fragilità. Un legame indissolubile, nonostante le incomprensioni, come quello che può esserci tra due sorelle.
Mi è piaciuto!
Ne scrivo meglio dopo.
Mi è piaciuto!
Ne scrivo meglio dopo.
May 3, 2022
Both sisters had so much style and intelligence. And they were talented artists. But they were also incredibly shallow and over the top materialistic. Their lives were interesting and full of tragedy. The book is fun to read though, as it is full of gossipy tidbits.
April 4, 2019
Poor little rich girls, but there were some interesting bits in it.
July 8, 2021
I learned a lot about these two women and the lives of the very rich and famous at the time. We’re they ever happy or content?
March 13, 2025
I found it unusual that a book about two style icons had only one photo - the one on the cover. We have all seen hundreds of photos of Jackie, but her sister Lee was less well-known and since the book is really from Lee's perspective, it would have been nice to have images to support the thesis of her beauty and style. The book, which is based largely on interviews with Lee after Jackie died, is slanted towards Lee, who suffered understandable frustration at being eclipsed by her sister. In One Special Summer, the book that they wrote together chronicling their trip to Europe as young women, it was clear that Lee was much more outgoing than Jackie, and it seems a reasonable conclusion for Lee to have drawn that she would be the sparkling sister, and Jackie would be the smart sister. But life takes its twists and turns, as Lee discovered, and Jackie never wanted the attention, but she became the iconic American Woman of the 20th century. This tension of jealousy and competitiveness was as true of their relationship as their closeness and sisterly love.
I thought the book captured the complexity of sisterhood, in that it did not overexplain how they could be close and competitive at the same time. Anyone with siblings can understand this dynamic. I didn't think there was much challenge to some of the commentary: Lee's view of events was accepted as true, and a book that quotes Truman Capote and Gore Vidal without verifying their information is definitely in the category of gossipy rather than scholarly. There was one incident where Vidal was kicked out of the White House by Robert Kennedy for unseemly behaviour reported as fact. Then several years later, Capote retold this story to a reporter prompting Vidal to sue him for slander. Kashner and Schoenberger give no real perspective other than suggesting that Lee was the source of the story, but later refused to back up Capote. It's this kind of sloppiness that condemns The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters to the dust bin of gossip history. Some of it is fun, but none of it is reliable information.
I thought the book captured the complexity of sisterhood, in that it did not overexplain how they could be close and competitive at the same time. Anyone with siblings can understand this dynamic. I didn't think there was much challenge to some of the commentary: Lee's view of events was accepted as true, and a book that quotes Truman Capote and Gore Vidal without verifying their information is definitely in the category of gossipy rather than scholarly. There was one incident where Vidal was kicked out of the White House by Robert Kennedy for unseemly behaviour reported as fact. Then several years later, Capote retold this story to a reporter prompting Vidal to sue him for slander. Kashner and Schoenberger give no real perspective other than suggesting that Lee was the source of the story, but later refused to back up Capote. It's this kind of sloppiness that condemns The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters to the dust bin of gossip history. Some of it is fun, but none of it is reliable information.
January 20, 2019
"The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters" is a biography of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her younger sister, Lee Radziwill. Coming of age when Jackie married Onassis I felt I was kinda in the know through the gossip magazines. I felt before reading this book that Lee was always flitting in the very near shadows of her sister Jackie. I have not changed my opinion -- Lee remains trying to one up her sister without much success. As they say history is for the winners. It is also for the survivors because in this story who continues to live.
I found the writing rather disjointed. I don't know if this was because it was placed in chapters. For example -- Jackie and Lee's marriages were discussed earlier in the book than the chapter on Weddings and Funerals.
Secondly, I found that the authors went into great detail of friends without any thought really of how Jackie and Lee interpreted these friendships. This was evident in the much discussed relationship between Gore Vidal and Truman Copote which was everywhere in the book but never came to an obvious conclusion. I was left wondering why it had even been included.
So what did I get out of this book. There was obviously a very long history of sister rivalry between Jackie and Lee. Was this ever worked out? not particularly. I was definitely left wondering why Lee would expect to inherit from Jackie's estate. Because you have money and are more financially stable than your sibling does not require one to bequeath money to you upon death. Although it would have been nice if Jackie had returned the desk it was not an obligation.
I was left con-fluxed on why Jackie would give Onassis a second look much less marry him. Lee, as she states had an affair with Onassis before JFK died then Jackie hooked up with him. Yuk!
The writers, to me, were obviously attempting to make the case that Lee was a great power player in art and style. I just don't see that to be the case. Would she have been known in the world without her relationship to her sister? Probably not. Yes, she hobnobbed with famous people and has published books, etc. To me she was just another glamorous clotheshorse who has spent a lifetime endeavoring to achieve household name status.
I found the writing rather disjointed. I don't know if this was because it was placed in chapters. For example -- Jackie and Lee's marriages were discussed earlier in the book than the chapter on Weddings and Funerals.
Secondly, I found that the authors went into great detail of friends without any thought really of how Jackie and Lee interpreted these friendships. This was evident in the much discussed relationship between Gore Vidal and Truman Copote which was everywhere in the book but never came to an obvious conclusion. I was left wondering why it had even been included.
So what did I get out of this book. There was obviously a very long history of sister rivalry between Jackie and Lee. Was this ever worked out? not particularly. I was definitely left wondering why Lee would expect to inherit from Jackie's estate. Because you have money and are more financially stable than your sibling does not require one to bequeath money to you upon death. Although it would have been nice if Jackie had returned the desk it was not an obligation.
I was left con-fluxed on why Jackie would give Onassis a second look much less marry him. Lee, as she states had an affair with Onassis before JFK died then Jackie hooked up with him. Yuk!
The writers, to me, were obviously attempting to make the case that Lee was a great power player in art and style. I just don't see that to be the case. Would she have been known in the world without her relationship to her sister? Probably not. Yes, she hobnobbed with famous people and has published books, etc. To me she was just another glamorous clotheshorse who has spent a lifetime endeavoring to achieve household name status.
August 7, 2018
I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins.
This biography hones in on the relationship between Jackie Bouvier Kennedy and her lesser known sister Lee Bouvier. Raised to expect men to bankroll their expensive lifestyle, both women were known for their cultured and European sense of style in both fashion and design, their grace and beauty, and their captivating personalities. Yet Lee, who according to this biography had the more outgoing, star-seeking personality, was forever overshadowed by her older sister. This imbalanced dynamic led to years of jealousy and competition between the sisters who otherwise had a close relationship.
The overarching dynamic between Lee and her famous sister seems to have been tension over Jackie's international fame, which forever and overwhelmingly overshadowed her little sister. Lee "never wanted to be the footnote in Jackie's story" and yet that seems to be the way both her own lifetime and her legacy has been defined. Yet this book asserts that many of the elements of her life that Jackie is known for her were copied from her younger sister: "Jackie often took her aesthetic interests and style, in décor and in couture, from her younger sister, and earned international acclaim for her discernment, while Lee increasingly resented it" (46).
This appears to be a very well written, if not comprehensive biography. In telling the story of the sisters, the book must inevitably tell their life stories. Yet this is not done in great detail in some areas. For example, the book does not discuss the birth of Caroline Kennedy at all, other than indirectly when talking about the birth of Lee's first child Anthony: "By marrying first and having a child before Jackie, she had indeed trumped her older sister" (65). This is actually inaccurate, since Caroline Kennedy was born in 1957 and Anthony Radziwill was born in 1959. Perhaps the authors actually intended to say that Lee had the first son (and I'm sure the final version will correct this error). Other topics are skimmed over as well. For instance, the girls' mother plays an exceedingly small role in this biography and is not mentioned for chapters on end. On the other hand, it was a distinct advantage that the authors were able to meet with the still living Lee and get some first hand account from her and the biography appears to be very well researched.
Both Jackie and Lee were captivating, complicated individuals who lived fascinating, and at times tragic, lives with the rich and famous of the day. Kashner and Schoenberger have done an excellent job of writing an accessible and relatively compact biography that specifically hones in on the dynamic between the two sisters. Although at times I wish more details had been included about other major characters in their lives including their parents and children, I thoroughly enjoyed this biography.
This biography hones in on the relationship between Jackie Bouvier Kennedy and her lesser known sister Lee Bouvier. Raised to expect men to bankroll their expensive lifestyle, both women were known for their cultured and European sense of style in both fashion and design, their grace and beauty, and their captivating personalities. Yet Lee, who according to this biography had the more outgoing, star-seeking personality, was forever overshadowed by her older sister. This imbalanced dynamic led to years of jealousy and competition between the sisters who otherwise had a close relationship.
The overarching dynamic between Lee and her famous sister seems to have been tension over Jackie's international fame, which forever and overwhelmingly overshadowed her little sister. Lee "never wanted to be the footnote in Jackie's story" and yet that seems to be the way both her own lifetime and her legacy has been defined. Yet this book asserts that many of the elements of her life that Jackie is known for her were copied from her younger sister: "Jackie often took her aesthetic interests and style, in décor and in couture, from her younger sister, and earned international acclaim for her discernment, while Lee increasingly resented it" (46).
This appears to be a very well written, if not comprehensive biography. In telling the story of the sisters, the book must inevitably tell their life stories. Yet this is not done in great detail in some areas. For example, the book does not discuss the birth of Caroline Kennedy at all, other than indirectly when talking about the birth of Lee's first child Anthony: "By marrying first and having a child before Jackie, she had indeed trumped her older sister" (65). This is actually inaccurate, since Caroline Kennedy was born in 1957 and Anthony Radziwill was born in 1959. Perhaps the authors actually intended to say that Lee had the first son (and I'm sure the final version will correct this error). Other topics are skimmed over as well. For instance, the girls' mother plays an exceedingly small role in this biography and is not mentioned for chapters on end. On the other hand, it was a distinct advantage that the authors were able to meet with the still living Lee and get some first hand account from her and the biography appears to be very well researched.
Both Jackie and Lee were captivating, complicated individuals who lived fascinating, and at times tragic, lives with the rich and famous of the day. Kashner and Schoenberger have done an excellent job of writing an accessible and relatively compact biography that specifically hones in on the dynamic between the two sisters. Although at times I wish more details had been included about other major characters in their lives including their parents and children, I thoroughly enjoyed this biography.
September 22, 2020
I was looking forward to this book because I looooved Furious Love (the authors' look at the epic Taylor/Burton love affair). I was disappointed. I think it's because Lee Radziwill participated. You'd think that would give the book greater authenticity, but there's an unintended consequence: too much Lee-centric detail. It derails the story.
For example: in 1959, Lee married a second time and set out to decorate an English country house. She turned it into a showplace with the help of an Italian theatrical designer -- a daring choice. Meanwhile, there's nothing about Jackie's life in 1959. At that point in her life, Mrs. Kennedy was living in Washington DC, taking care of her toddler daughter and participating in her husband's run-up to his campaign for the Presidency. Nary a word about any of that, which to me, is more interesting than Lee's choice of wallpaper. Many of Lee's romances are detailed, but Jackie's lovers between husbands (John Warnecke, Roswell Gilpatric, and Lord Harlech) are ignored.
Also, Lee is not especially likable. A woman who was marred for life by her parents' divorce, she didn't seem particularly involved with her own children after her split from their father, during their tender adolescence. (In fact, her daughter Tina ran away to live with Aunt Jackie for a time.) She didn't appear to be there for her mother during Janet Auchincloss' battle with Alzheimer's, or her half-sister as she died of cancer. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg didn't give her aunt a speaking role at her mother's funeral because feel Lee was there for Jackie. Supposedly, this is because Lee doesn't "do death well."
In short, this is really not the dual biography it's portrayed to be. It's really Lee's story. And Lee doesn't benefit from all the scrutiny.
For example: in 1959, Lee married a second time and set out to decorate an English country house. She turned it into a showplace with the help of an Italian theatrical designer -- a daring choice. Meanwhile, there's nothing about Jackie's life in 1959. At that point in her life, Mrs. Kennedy was living in Washington DC, taking care of her toddler daughter and participating in her husband's run-up to his campaign for the Presidency. Nary a word about any of that, which to me, is more interesting than Lee's choice of wallpaper. Many of Lee's romances are detailed, but Jackie's lovers between husbands (John Warnecke, Roswell Gilpatric, and Lord Harlech) are ignored.
Also, Lee is not especially likable. A woman who was marred for life by her parents' divorce, she didn't seem particularly involved with her own children after her split from their father, during their tender adolescence. (In fact, her daughter Tina ran away to live with Aunt Jackie for a time.) She didn't appear to be there for her mother during Janet Auchincloss' battle with Alzheimer's, or her half-sister as she died of cancer. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg didn't give her aunt a speaking role at her mother's funeral because feel Lee was there for Jackie. Supposedly, this is because Lee doesn't "do death well."
In short, this is really not the dual biography it's portrayed to be. It's really Lee's story. And Lee doesn't benefit from all the scrutiny.
March 10, 2022
A friend loaned me this book ad it wasn’t at the top of my list, but growing up in an era where Jackie Kennedy Onassis was hounded by paparazzi and was on the cover of every tabloid, I thought I’d give it a try.
First of all, it was quite interesting from a biographical standpoint and gave me interest in reading a few additional books to round out my knowledge of certain times in the book.
Second of all, it sure put the damper on my positive image of the sisters. It seemed that they were all about $ and image and not much else. It was sad to read of their rivalry, Lee’s jealousy and poor parenting and Jackie’s thirst for wealth.
I found the section on Grey Gardens fascinating. Truman Capote has been an ass in every book I’ve ever read that he was mentioned in. The rich and famous rarely seem happy with their good fortune and their affairs seem commonplace.
That’s it in a nutshell.
First of all, it was quite interesting from a biographical standpoint and gave me interest in reading a few additional books to round out my knowledge of certain times in the book.
Second of all, it sure put the damper on my positive image of the sisters. It seemed that they were all about $ and image and not much else. It was sad to read of their rivalry, Lee’s jealousy and poor parenting and Jackie’s thirst for wealth.
I found the section on Grey Gardens fascinating. Truman Capote has been an ass in every book I’ve ever read that he was mentioned in. The rich and famous rarely seem happy with their good fortune and their affairs seem commonplace.
That’s it in a nutshell.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2019
I have read a lot of books about Jacqueline Onassis' fascinating life. Therefore, I was a bit weary when beginning this one because it seemed to me like it would be a "beginner" book examining the lives of Jackie and her sister, Lee Radziwill, especially after reading the gossipy and lengthy, "Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill" by J. Randy Taraborrelli. I was more than pleasantly surprised at the detail and immense research this book offered. I found myself rereading paragraphs to marinate information that I have never found in any other book about the sisters. The credibility for this book is strong in that I have given the facts my trust. The authors have sat down with Lee Radziwill to interview her and have with many others written about in this book and have drawn seemingly accurate conclusions on why things turned out the way they did for the sisters and why they had done the things they have done. Please read if you are interested in the lives of these two extraordinary people.
-- Also, in the beginning of every chapter there are brilliant quotes from Jackie and Lee that alone are just poignant and informative on who these two women were.
-- Also, in the beginning of every chapter there are brilliant quotes from Jackie and Lee that alone are just poignant and informative on who these two women were.
October 13, 2018
This book is far more sympathetic to Lee than some of the other Bouvier/Kennedy books I’ve read.
January 4, 2019
This book wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I thought it shed a very sordid and often negative light on the sisters. I was looking for the high fashion glitz and glamour but instead found infidelity at every turn. Parts of the book were interesting but my favorite section by far was the photo collection at the end.
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