Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy #hotbook

‘The all-too-short life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy has been examined endlessly, both while she was alive and in the 25 years since she, her husband, John F. Kennedy, Jr., and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. But so much of what the public has been told hasn’t been quite right: tabloid stories, urban legends, and rumors have been repeated so often that they’ve become mistaken for facts. Enter Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a new biography by Elizabeth Beller that attempts to set the very messy record straight about the life of its iconic, enigmatic subject.

Beller’s book doesn’t shy away from those stories that made front-page news, but also offers a deep, thoughtful look at a woman who was more than just a fight with her husband or an unsmiling face for aggressive photographers. Speaking with friends and family members, Beller has developed a clear picture of a person who had a full life before she married into American royalty, and one who struggled with the demands of living in the spotlight. The absorbing biography isn’t without juicy moments, but also doesn’t rely on sensationalism to make the case for Bessette-Kennedy’s importance; it’s a nuanced, complicated book about a person who had similar qualities, and it’s a must read for anyone who wants to go beyond the surface of a story that’s captivated the world for more than two decades.’

Beller speaks with T&C about her subject, what went into writing the book, and what she wishes she had known when she started…. Read here at Town and Country

More to read here at Vanity Fair

$41 Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy Buy here