Marisa asked Michelle Gable:

Michelle, Just wanted to say how excited I am to read THE SUMMER I MET JACK. I literally screamed out loud with joy when I got the ARC. Love that you wrote it and love the amount of energy and research. cant wait to dive in! Can you tell me if you had to get permission from the Kennedys to write this?? xoxox I'm an excited reader

Michelle Gable Hi Marisa! So glad you're excited for the new book. To answer your question, it would be very unusual to seek "permission" from a public figure/family/person/business for a novel. Generally the only permissions required involve copyrighted song lyrics or quotes from books/poems/etc., that sort of thing. While this novel is based on facts (and GOBS of research), there are certainly gaps (especially in Alicia's storyline/history) I filled in with my imagination. All of my books are based on real people and events, and I try to make them as accurate and realistic as possible but, in the end, I do write fiction! Not that permission would be required for non-fiction, either. Plenty of biographies and memoirs have been written about the Kennedys that I'm sure they would not approve (e.g. memoirs from JFK's various mistresses).
Hope you love the read!

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