James Smale grew up in a repressed household, never sure if he fit. His father spent a lot of time with James' brother who was a replica of himself but had little time for James whose interests were more in literature and art than woodworking and sports. When the two older children grew up and left the household, so did James' father, a move that he always felt was related to the distance between them. After that, James and his mother also had a distance between them until now they barely speak.

Now James is an adult and about toe be a published author, the book a story of his upbringing and an attempt to understand his mother. To his shock, his book is assigned to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as his editor. At first James is hesitant around her but as the weeks roll on, they develop a working relationship and even the beginning of a friendship. She pushes him to change the ending of his novel and to do so he must explore what went wrong with his childhood and expose the secrets there. Can he do it?

Steven Rowley has written other novels, among them the successful Guncle series. He has won awards for humor but this book is more serious and is a beacon to those attempting to make sense of a childhood where they never seemed to fit into their family. James has a steady love, Daniel, and Daniel provides a counterweight to James' angst as he seems very balanced. But above all, it is an exploration of how we fit into our birth families and the relationships there. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Steven Rowley is becoming a must read author for me, between The Editor, Lily and the Octopus, and the best book of 2021, The Guncle. I'll eat up everything and anything he gives us!

The editor does an exceptional job portraying themes of family dysfunction, struggles with self-confidence, writing, secrets, and unlikely relationships. In fact, Rowley does unlikely relationships better than anyone. This is beautifully written, poignant, and unexpected. An easy five stars!

The premise of learning about Jackie Kennedy’s time as an editor was very compelling, but I couldn’t quite tell what this book was focused on. Jackie was always in the picture, but I guess I was expecting something different. There were many heartwarming and beautiful moments, but this just wasn’t for me.

I really wanted to love this. Heck, I really wanted to finish this. But alas, I could not.

The premise sounded great, that Jackie O., in her later career as an editor (she worked at Viking and Doubleday), edits an author's book and changes his life in the process. This leads to the exploration of the mother-son relationship that forms the core of this novel. However, the characters and dialogue just weren't for me, and I finally gave up.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

The best thing that ever happened to this book, besides James finding out some wild family secret, is that Jackie I was the editor of his book. I loved how he was finally given his chance and even though he struggled with his own personal life that he kept pushing to the side, this book was pretty inspirational. Even though I gave it its score, it didn’t hold my interest for too long, it went from good, to slow burn, right back to good and it took me too long to finish. It was a rollercoaster, just like James life in the book lol.

Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this book for my honest review.

I am a big fan of Steven Rowley!

I went into this book thinking it would be more about Jackie O, but she doesn't play as big a role as predicted. This was okay, though! The story Rowley wove around James and his mother, his entire family, and his boyfriend Daniel was so enjoyable, I didn't have time to be disappointed that Jackie played a minor part.

I wanted to love this book. It's a book about a writer and books and the publishing industry. How could I not love this book? On top of that, I've been a lifelong amateur enthusiast of the Kennedy family and Jackie O is one of the characters in this story. I really needed to love this book. Sadly, I didn't at all. The interactions between the characters felt prickly and forced, and I felt like much of the portion that I read was not believable. Another thing that weirded me out, and this could be because I was reading an advance copy, was that there were random hyphenated words, like pos-sibility. I don't understand the purpose of this if it was meant to be in the final text. I hope it wasn't because it was extremely distracting. I grieve the abandonment of this book and wish it were closer to what I was hoping for. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting read. It was a bit uneven--I kept picking it up and putting it down. But I enjoyed the story and especially liked James.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This one was interesting! I much preferred the first half of THE EDITOR, which focuses more on James's relationship with Jackie as well as his relationship with his mother. The book lost my interest a bit when he began his journey to discover his true birth father (personally I just wasn't really interested in this aspect of the storyline, and I think James's story was already interesting enough without adding this curveball). I also really liked reading about the publishing industry and New York City in the 1990s -- the author did a great job at setting the atmosphere! Nonetheless, while THE EDITOR is momentarily enjoyable, I do think it's somewhat of a forgettable read.

I was not able to finish this book, sadly, since the back of the book sounded so dang good! However, it was ultimately not able to keep my interest through the first couple of chapters.

I love reading books about writers because it is a dream for me to one day live that life. This story charmed its way right into one of my favorites. The addition of Jackie O made it that much more compelling.

This book is EXTREMELY fun -- I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it. The book is beautifully written, and warm without being heartbreaking (the way Lily & the Octopus was). I truly enjoyed both the overall premise and the intricacies of the story. "The Editor" refers to Jackie Kennedy Onassis (who I feel particularly enamored with, as a fellow Vassar attendee), and follows James (the author) as they work together on finalizing his book.

I really recommend it - it's an interesting period of time, with characters you feel drawn to, and convincing relationships.

I LOVED The Editor! The way this fictional story entailed so many facts about Jacqueline Onassis made it that much more enthralling. I loved James' character development and how well it tangled into the storyline and other characters. This story reminded me a bit of In Five Years and I will definitely be reading this one again.

I knew nothing about this book except from the cover. I actually really liked it! The writing pulled you in, the intricate workings of a family I could understand. How the protagonist relationship with Jackie and his quest for closure and answers to his childhood. It was a good book one I really enjoyed and the ending was the best I have read in a REALLY long time. Side note he did his research while it was fiction I didn’t know she was an editor!

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam f& Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Before picking up this book I had no idea that Jackie Kennedy worked in publishing during the 1970s to 1990s!

This was a fun look at a writer/editor relationship and how the writing process pushes the writer, especially when writing about your mother. It was a interesting look at the writing process and family relationships.

I was a little confused after I went to enter it in Goodreads as it was it was published in April 2019 but guess the book is coming out in paperback in Summer 2020?

A young man just sold his first novel to a small imprint within a publishing house with an interesting head editor - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. James Smale, this debut author has no clue when he goes to meet his new editor that he is meeting someone that is literally a historical figure and through editing this book his life will change.

If you are a Jackie Kennedy fan like me, this is a fun book to read to see a new perspective on her in her later years and a look at her passions and a profession. Known as an avid reader and a book fan, to see her find the profession of book editor is cool and then to read a fictional tale of a debut author working with her is just great. You can imagine if she had never entered the Kennedy family could this had become her profession earlier? I would hope so!

This book is great for a book lover because it gives the behind the scenes glimpse of books and the way they come about. All of the hands that take a book from a concept to printed and on the shelf. I will always love reading about the ins and outs of the industry that I admire - more please!

There were a few moments in this book where the story went back in time and I just wish that the book had made a note of it. Just a few times it was confusing that we were sent back in time and stayed there for a bit and it would have helped with the reading if it had been announced or notated ahead of time.

I cried and laughed while reading this one. It was the best escape from the news of the world and a great companion for a summer weekend.

Sadly, this book did not resonate with me. I found myself skimming at about the 20 percent mark. I liked the concept, but never really got into the story enough to give it much effort. Maybe it’s the current state of affairs in the country. Probably.

3/5 stars. Well written and very readable, just not the story for me at this time.

This book was not for me. I requested it because I heard so many excellent reviews. But, I found it shallow and lacking depth. Do I really care what jackie o was wearing? The characters appeared to be cardboard cutouts. I skimmed through the first half of the book. The mother-son relationship was the story. Its a shame the rest of it, got in the way.

I started out with some mixed feelings on this book, especially the beginning chapters, but the author continually drew me in until I needed to know what would happen next. Would he fix his relationship with his mother? Would she read the book? Would he succumb to Mark? Would he and Mrs. Onassis become friends? The farther along I read, the more in needed to know. And the ending was quite touching, but not maudlin.

I loved the audacity of Steven Rowley. He actually uses Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as one of his main characters. Not someone modeled after her, but her. And within the first few pages, as James says that his mother doesn’t want to be written about, he has her say “Well, your mother’s in good company there.”
I truly enjoyed Rowley’s writing. “And just like that, I’ve completed the slow climb to the top of the roller coaster.” Not lush writing, but spot on point descriptions.
I’ve always wondered how the relationship works between a writer and an editor. Here, we get to see.
But what the book is truly about is family, secrets, forgiveness and healing. Especially forgiveness and what it takes to get there. This is a heartwarming book. It was and wasn’t what I expected. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so deep. Yes, it involves someone we all think we know. And Rowley makes Jackie seem truly real. But he also does a wonderful job with all his characters, especially James’ mother.
My thanks to netgalley and Penguin Group for an advance copy of this book.