The Other Mrs. Kennedy

America possesses indelible images of Ethel Skakel Kennedy: the vivacious political partner vigorously campaigning next to her ambitious husband; an American madonna, surrounded by her brood of eleven children; most poignant, a grief-stricken wife cradling her husband's head as he lay mortally wounded. Unlike her glamorous sister-in-law Jackie, Ethel felt a compulsive need to prove herself "more Kennedy than thou." Because of her unrelenting loyalty, she played a starring role in the clan's triumphs and tragedies, from Camelot to California, Chappaquiddick to Palm Beach. Ethel, like the Kennedys, had a destructive streak traceable to her roots. For The Other Mrs. Kennedy also is the story of her own wealthy, star-crossed Irish Catholic family, the Skakels: a gothic tale of alcoholism, adultery, arson, and even suspected murder. The dark heritage would be passed on by Ethel to some of her children, whose lives reeled out of control, sparking even more heartbreak and controversy. Manipulative, ruthless, and cunning where the clan's interests are concerned, Ethel has maintained a devotion to Bobby's memory that is obsessive. She is a woman with enormous clout, and her wrath has been felt at the highest levels of Washington's power elite. Jerry Oppenheimer has conducted literally hundreds of interviews with family members, friends, and political associates to paint a very intimate portrait of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and the life she has made for herself without the man she loved, the man who might have been President.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.