Living with the Kennedys: The Joan Kennedy Story by Marcia Chellis - 1985

Simon & Schuster Books. Used; Acceptable. Simon & Schuster Books, Hardcover, 1985, Book Condition: Fair, Jacket Condition: Fair. What really happens when a beautiful, cloistered debutante from a Catholic college marries the rich, handsome youngest son of America's most relentlessly ambitious political clan--one whose men were as rampantly acquisitive in their pursuit of women as they were of power, and whose wives were required to submit themselves to the demands of political expediency?Joan Kennedy's storybook marriage became a private hell. And here her life as a Kennedy is told as it has never been told before. More compelling than fiction, this is a revealing behind-the-scenes portrait of a young wife and mother thrust suddenly into an alien world where she was bruised by her husband's infidelities and a grim succession of personal tragedies that culminated in Chappaquiddick, a woman who, despite the glamour and excitement of being a Kennedy, felt unneeded and descended into an addiction to alcohol that could have cost her life. Yet, after years of struggle, Joan Kennedy conquered her alcoholism and, in a remarkable effort of will, campaigned for her husband in the 1980 Democratic presidential primaries. For Ted Kennedy the campaign was a disaster; for Joan it was a personal triumph. In her final act of fealty to the Kennedy clan, she found a new sense of purpose and the courange to end her loveless marriage, giving up her role as "passive princess" and creating an identity of her own as a strong and independent woman. Marcia Chellis, friend, confidante, and Joan Kennedy's administrative assistant during the 1980 campaign, has written the story of this extraordinary woman with candor, compassion and profound insight, detailing the emotional undercurrents, the powerful personalities and the tragic events that shaped the course of her life. Joan Kennedy's willingness to face up to her personal problems, her determination to survive, will be an inspiration to every woman who must make difficult choices in her own life involving love and marriage, her responsibility to her family, and her obligations to herself. . 1985. HARDCOVER.