While not literary genius, it was an enjoyable read. Frustrating how some were treated back then and to some extent now. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Dawn Tripp’s novel is a beautifully written revelation into the complex life of Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis. From the foreword, knowing how long and intensively she researched her subject opens the reader to fall under the spell of the words and the woman. I’m hoping and assuming Jackie was as eloquent as Tripp and that she actually channeled a level of cadence and lyricism from the former first lady’s own writings. “Jackie” recounts intimate insights into a familiar story rife with love, resilience, tragedy, and rebirth. The novel doesn’t seem to slide into gossip, but instead, with gentility, it skims over some of Jack Kennedy’s known affairs while acknowledging countless others transpired. The same vague brush paints her complicated relationship with Bobby after her husband’s death. As a historical fiction lover, I appreciate when facts about famous people aren’t bent too far to add to the drama. Jackie’s life provided plenty of conflict without extra embellishment. Tripp’s memorable telling allows us to peek into her world to more fully comprehend the depths and the difficulties she endured. (Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC copy.)

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC ebook of “Jackie” by Dawn Tripp. Written from the perspective of Jackie herself, this novel takes us from Jacqueline Bouvier’s youth, to meeting and marrying JFK, to the halcyon days of Camelot. We are there in the motorcade, there as Oswald takes aim … and there as America mourns the loss of JFK along with Jackie. We follow her as she marries Onassis and flees America, and accompany her return and her final years as an editor in NY. Much of this is very interesting reading for anyone with an interest in JFK and Jackie; yet is not new material for those acquainted with their history. I would give the book 3 stars and recommend for those with an interest in JFK and Jackie.#NetGalley #Jackie

Jackie by Dawn Tripp is a historical fiction novel based on the extraordinary life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I like how the author described her vision for the book, “I wanted to explore the space between what took place and what might have”. Not surprisingly, I enjoyed reading about her early life and her complicated marriage to JFK best. It’s clear that she’s independent, smart, loves books, art and travel. “Once upon a time there was a boy who loved heroes and a girl who married him and found herself in a too small box of a housewife life.”

The aftermath of JFK’s assassination felt lengthy. She was widowed at just 34 years old. And then it’s followed by tragedy after tragedy that she and the Kennedy family endured. She seemed to marry the older, wealthy Aristotle Onassis (who dated her sister!) to escape the glare of celebrity and the constant reminder of JFK’s assassination. After he passes, Jackie transitions into an independent, middle aged New Yorker, who adores her children and work as a book editor.

The novel is clearly well researched. At 496 pages the reader is given a lot of detail about each character, an inside look at the rich and powerful Kennedys, incredible name dropping and some conspiracy theories. I’d recommend this to fans of the iconic Jackie O who prefer their historical fiction to be heavier with fiction. 4/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

JACKIE by Dawn Tripp, an award-winning author, was inspired by the cover photograph. Tripp comments extensively on the photo, saying in part, "The moment was private, a faint tension between them, ... and, also, a vulnerability, a tenderness. I found it a moment of heartbreaking beauty, a leave-taking." This work of fiction provides insight into an historical figure with whom readers remain fascinated. Tripp conducted extensive research and lists numerous books and articles in a Sources section. And she includes numerous details in this almost 500 page novel. One of my favorites is a passing reference to the country music song, "Drop Kick Me, Jesus (Through the Goalposts of Life". I found Tripp's staccato style – short, abrupt sentences – to be rather distancing, but perhaps it was intentional if that is consistent with the manner in which Jackie Kennedy spoke or wrote? Also, there is very little reference to key life events as a mother (e.g., Caroline's wedding, birth of grandchildren); the major focus seems to be on her courtship with JFK, marriage, and subsequent public life. Still, the story has appeal and will hold readers’ attention. JACKIE received a starred review from Library Journal and Booklist ("an authenticity equal to any biography, making it a requisite addition to the Jackie canon"). Interested readers looking for more on the 1960s should also explore the recently published An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

I was born 6 months after JFK was assassinated so he wasn't someone that I grew up following. But, it was very interesting to read about their life (in a fictional sense). Well-written. I feel like it really captured how Jackie might have felt during her life.

Would have liked to read some note from the author about what things were true.

Jackie, by Dawn Tripp, is a a novel that is so intimate it almost feels like you are reading her autobiography. (and, as the author noted, some quotes were taken directly from Jackie herself) Beautifully written and absolutely fascinating, I feel that I have gained a new understanding and appreciation for this famous, and famously mysterious, woman. I also loved feeling like a fly on the wall for many pivotal moments in US history. Highly recommend!!!

In depth view of Jackie Kennedy, the woman behind the President and the one who kept his family together. She was always such an elegant representation of the women in politics but it was amazing to read into her experience through politics and how she remained gracefully herself

Is there a more iconic American woman than Jacqueline Kennedy? Much has been written about her and yet she still retains an air of mystery.

In this novel Dawn Tripp successfully imagines Jackie's life with a carefully researched title. Readers follow Jackie over a period of many years. They will learn more about her life before Jack, her courtship and marriage to both him and to Onassis, her role as a mother, her career, her cancer diagnosis and much more in this well written narrative. Readers will witness both the tragedy and the inner strength that defined this most impressive woman.

Tripp has written a long (over 450 pages) and immersive novel. It is very easy to recommend this title to historical fiction readers and those who are intrigued by the myth of this woman.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

Jackie is the story of a brilliant and special soul, destined to face some of the worst tragedies in American history: the assassinations of her husband John F. Kennedy and her brother-in-law, Bobby, her marriage and divorce from Onassis, plus all the scandals in which his family will be involved.
Jackie lived most of her life under the scrutiny of public opinion, which we already know is anything but gentle.
This book is magnificent: With an exceptional bibliography, masterfully written and narrated in the first person, in such a way that at times it seems that Jackie is speaking directly to the reader and telling him about her life, experiences and her most intimate thoughts.
An essential read for those who want to know more about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, the woman who gave rise to the myth.
I thank the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The opinion I have expressed above is based solely on what I think and feel about this book.

I didn't know Jackie was such a dedicated bookwoman, someone who read about books and read books where ever she was. Jack would circle books in the New York Times Book Review to buy each week, and they read and discussed eveything. Dawn Tripp's elegant and passionate novel lets us in on the kind of electric attraction they felt for each other, and the trauma Jackie never recovered from after 11/22/63. Her flight to Onassis was because he could protect her from the Kennedy family, the politics, and the demands that were crushing her after the assassination. She never really had a home, and spent much of her life in briefly rented properties, some with horses, some with a beach. occasionally with both. Her focus was protecting her children, sharing with them the love of beauty that gave her life glow.

I loved this novel. Jackie is surprisingly relatable figure, with her ragged fingernails, old jeans, and pilled sweaters she wears at home. Her intellect was blazing, her intuition was finely tuned, and she lived a life lonely of people, but filled with books, art, and a love of beauty. Who could she have been if she were born thirty years later?

A fine and encompassing novel, and I thank NetGalley, Dawn Tripp, and Random House Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

What a great book! I could not put this down. Full of history and rich story-telling. I enjoyed this book!

This book represents the best of what historical fiction can accomplish. Meticulously researched, Dawn Tripp's Jackie captures the spirit of the woman known to all Americans. As a historian, I particularly enjoyed how Tripp wove historical context into Jackie's story because it really helped bring her to life and showed her as a woman of her time. I have read other fictionalized versions of Jackie Kennedy's life, but this one is by far the best. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jackie by Dawn Tripp kept me engaged until the very end. She gave voice to Jackie's experience, but also entwined JFK's perspective as well which I thought was SO effective. I felt Jackie's pain and anguish as she grieved and tried to form a life for herself, flawed as it might be. The turmoil of the 1960s was very engaging and well developed and brought that era to life. Her relationship was Onassis was briefly explored as well as her final days. This biofic did Jackie justice because the bought the complexities and nuances of relationships to life. Beautifully written.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

While I love to read historical fiction about the famous Kennedys, I hesitated with this one because I have already read other books told from Jackie's perspective. I am glad I took the plunge with Jackie by Dawn Tripp because it was probably the most beautifully written novel I have read about the Kennedys.

This book covers the period when Jackie first met JFK in 1951, following up to the presidency and assassination, through her marriage to Onassis up to her death in 1994. Told in fiction as through her voice, the author has done the research to make the book feel authentic, and Jackie has left enough documentation to make that possible. The writing was poetic and insightful. I highlighted many passages including, "You don't stay with someone because they hurt you, I could say. You stay for the slight and mythical promise of a dream that once meant so much you were willing to trade a different future for it. You stay for what you gave up."

I will recommend this to readers who like historical fiction about the Kennedys and women's fiction in general.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m sure we’ve all learned a lot about the Kennedy years. Even though this book is historical fiction, it’s the first time I’ve read from Jackie’s perspective. It was almost like reading her diary. Even though some conversations are made up, this book is so well researched and it is rooted in history and actual events. Written in first person, it reminded me of Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.
I loved learning more about Jackie – as a mother, wife, sister, daughter-in-law, and especially as an advisor to JFK. While we know the impact that Jackie had on the world – for example through her fashion and updating of the White House – this book also shows her as an policy and communications asset to JFK’s presidency, both nationally and internationally. In this book, we see his presidency through her eyes.
As the timeline moved closer to November 1963, I could feel my anxiety and sadness rising as I read about JFK’s assassination from Jackie’s perspective. My kids are basically the same ages as Caroline and John were then, and my heart aches for what they went through at such a young age. I had similar feelings as the book entered 1968, knowing that Bobby Kennedy would suffer the same fate as his brother.
It takes a good writer to evoke those feelings while reading. It felt like I was truly reading how Jackie experienced these events.

“Dawn Tripp’s meticulous research and masterful storytelling are as eloquent and captivating as the timeless, elegant, and iconic Jackie. A classic! Top Books of 2024.”

The world has divided my life into three:
~Life with Jack
~Life with Onassis
~Life as a woman who goes to work because she wants to.

"My life is all of these things, and it is none of these things. They continue to miss what’s right in front of them. I love books. I love the sea. I love horses. Children. Art. Ideas. History. Beauty. Because beauty blows us open to wonder. Even the beauty that breaks your heart."

About...

JACKIE was a beautiful, grand, inspiring, and fascinating woman who led many lives as Jackie, Jacks, Jacqueline, Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Kennedy, and Jackie O. Women everywhere loved her chic elegant style. But there was so much more to the woman behind the man. She was intelligent and charming, a wife, mother, lover, grandmother, and First Lady. She adored her children and grandchildren. She did not plan on falling for an American man or politics, but she fell in love.

A popular first lady, she endeared herself to the American public with her devotion to her family, dedication to the historic preservation of the White House, campaigns she led to preserve and restore historic landmarks and architecture, and interest in American history, culture, and the arts.

The author takes readers from before she met Jack, her life, loves, dreams, intimate thoughts, and desires to their complex marriage, the birth and loss of her children, the assassination, the grief, her close relationship with Bobby, brother-in-law, and her marriage to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, its problems, and later an independent career woman in a publishing house as editor getting to share her love of books to her diagnosis of cancer.

JACKIE is the story of a woman who has endured incredible trauma and loss and strives to forge an independent life while balancing societal and cultural expectations. The author's unique approach to reimagining Jackie's voice, thoughts, and interactions with her circle of family, friends, and acquaintances brilliantly captures her beautiful spirit. This fresh perspective adds a new layer of understanding to how she felt and perceived those around her.

From the complex nuances of her heart, wit, vulnerability, and intellect—the intimate realness of her as a human being— reimagining those moments from her point of view as she might have experienced them.

My thoughts...

As a baby boomer who doesn't love Jackie? It was like yesterday in the sixth grade when the teacher came into the room crying when we learned of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and our thoughts of Jackie. They were married one year after I was born, and my mom used to talk fondly of Jackie and even dressed like her—very tasteful.

Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, Jackie was a woman we admired. She worked to shape her own identity and brand in progressive ways.

I enjoyed the parts about Jackie and her personal thoughts, dreams, and love of books. The author brilliantly explores the complex politics of power, love, marriage, and gender throughout the novel. Jackie’s fierce love for her children shaped her determination to create a stable sense of family despite the extraordinary circumstances she faced.

An impressive lyrical masterpiece!
I devoured this dazzling portrait of Jackie Kennedy an American icon.

“The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.”
—E.L. Doctorow

Indeed, the author exceeds all expectations, exploring all facets of Jackie in an appealing and intimate way. JACKIE is one you will want to read more than once.

JACKIE is vivid, gorgeously written, and meticulously researched, offering a dazzling inside look into this fascinating woman. Jackie would be proud. I have read many books about Jackie's life; however, Dawn Tripp's reimagining of Jackie is my favorite. I loved this book!

Absorbing and affecting, ideal for book clubs. Check out the extensive and fascinating Book Club Kit and resources, recipes, a letter from the author, discussion questions, a playlist, a couple's favorite books, and more. I enjoyed the Author's note and the additional reading sources. I LOVED the playlist—all of my all-time favorites.

I loved Tripp's GEORGIA Georgia O’Keeffe, (5 stars); however, JACKIE is a (5 Stars ++). I highly recommend both

A mesmerizing must-read in all formats!
~Hardcover (a classic for any bookshelf)
~e-book (to highlight all the many quotes)
~Audiobook (characters come alive with favorite talented narrators: Linda Jones and Karissa Vacker).

Personal note...

My apologies for the delay in posting my review. Like President Kennedy—I, too, have Addison's Disease, a condition affecting stress hormones with adrenal insufficiency and low cortisol levels. My cortisol levels, since last week, are at an extremely low (2) life-threatening level with severe fatigue and other issues that warrant back on steroids (with all its nasty side effects). However, you have to be careful not to get too much cortisol or develop Cushing's disease (the opposite, which I have also experienced). I am running behind on reading, work, and writing reviews.

Thanks to Random House for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy via Netgalley. Also purchased the hardcover and the audiobook.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 18, 2024
My Rating: 5 Stars ++
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I loved every single page of this book, so much so that I picked it to be my monthly book pick of July and I am telling every historical fiction fan to get it.

We all know the story of Jack and Jackie, a love story that ended tragically on November 22, 1963, but this novel gives us a look into what their private lives might have been like. We see the two of them, meeting, conversing, falling in love, the affairs, the babies, the Presidency, and of course, the loss.

I loved how the book told the story but also gave us a look at what each person might have been thinking at different stages of their lives together.

I loved the way Ms. Tripp was inspired by photographs of the couple and then spun a story around those photographs, it was brilliant and very well written.

This novel follows the fictionalized but historically influences life of the woman known as Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

This novel begins with a snapshot of the immediate aftermath of the assassination of JFK and what could be going through her mind in those moments. We jump right into the day Jackie met the man who was going to end up being her husband. We follow her journey from that day forward. Her work as a reporter, reluctantly dating Jack to quickly falling for him. Everything she gave up for his political career, motherhood, what it was like being the First Lady. The tremendous losses she experienced in life, her second marriage to a man who both helped her and hurt her. Her rise to adoration and the fall from grace. Her career in publishing, and her years living life on her own terms.

The days of Jackie O and JFK were way before my time, but their story and legacy shaped the way life is lived today. I have always been fascinated by the woman Jackie was, and this fictionalized exploration of her life really filled the gap in my knowledge. It made me think of her as a human being rather than the figurehead I saw her as. The author did such a good job of really making Jackie come to life on the page. It must have required hours upon hours of research to get the character and events right, and although we will never really truly know all the facets that comprised Jackie, I can definitely admire the work the author put in and her interpretation of perspective of Jackie.

I really enjoyed this Historical Fiction book about Jackie Kennedy. There are so many books about her life but in this book, its told from HER point of view.

Most of the story is focused on her life with President Kennedy, for obvious reasons. I found it interesting what she was actually feeling after the President was assassinated because Mrs. Kennedy handled herself with grace during the televised funeral. I also liked her opinion on who killed her husband. Yes, history says that it was Lee Harvey Oswald, however, she was convinced that President Kennedy's view on Civil Rights made her think there was perhaps more than one killer.

I sympathized with Mrs. Kennedy Kennedy throughout her life story. It was no big secret that President Kennedy was a womanizer but you finally get the sense of how she handled the situation. In the end, she does not regret the love she gave to JFK.

Jackie Kennedy was an incredible mother, a devoted wife, and a First Lady like no other. She in a class of her own.

I highly recommend this book about this fascinating women!