JACKIE
A Novel
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.
In this mesmerizing novel about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, acclaimed author Dawn Tripp has crafted an intimate story of love and power, family and tragedy, loss and reinvention.
Jackie is the story of a woman who forged a legacy out of grief and shaped history even as she was living it—a deeply private person with a nuanced, formidable intellect. It is the story of a love affair, a complicated marriage, and the fracturing of identity that comes in the wake of unthinkable violence.
When Jackie meets the charismatic congressman Jack Kennedy in Georgetown, she is twenty-one and dreaming of France. She has won an internship at Vogue, and she thinks Kennedy is not her kind of adventure: “Too American. Too good-looking. Too boy.” Yet she is drawn to his mind, his humor, and his drive. The chemistry between them ignites. During the White House years, the love between two independent people deepens. Then, a motorcade in Dallas: “Three and a half seconds—that’s all it was—a slivered instant between the first shot, which missed the car, and the second, which did not. . . . A hypnotic burst of sunlight off her bracelet as she waved.”
This spare, exquisite novel is a window into the world of a woman who led many different lives: Jackie, Jacks, Jacqueline, Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Kennedy, Mrs. Onassis, Jackie O. It is at once a deeply human story and a captivating work of imagination that comes right up against what she was thinking and feeling, what she was afraid of, fought for, and believed in.
PRAISE & REVIEWS
“Inspired by a rare photograph capturing a tender moment between a young Jack and Jackie Kennedy, Tripp imagines what might have happened in the moments before the shutter clicked, and conjures the magic behind their transcendent love story. . .With a fitting sense of elegance and poignancy, Tripp’s expert and insightful fictionalization of Jackie’s life manages an authenticity equal to any biography, making it a requisite addition to the Jackie canon.” – Booklist, Starred Review
“This meticulously researched and lyrically written portrait of Jackie will appeal not only to baby boomers who experienced the historic events of her life but also to anyone who appreciates intimate novels about women’s hearts, minds, and souls. A must-purchase.” – Library Journal, Starred Review
“An ethereal novel. . .elegiac and meticulously crafted.” – Kirkus
“An intimate portrait of Jackie Kennedy during her courtship and marriage to JFK. . .Tripp brings Jackie and Jack’s romance to life through carefully crafted scenes and offers a humanizing portrait of Jackie’s complex love for her husband. Camelot devotees, take note.” – Publishers Weekly
“In Jackie, Dawn Tripp turns an icon into a woman, imagining the rich inner life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The marriage between Jackie and Jack has been scrutinized endlessly but here we see it in all its glorious honesty through the eyes of a woman in love, almost in spite of herself. Readers will devour this richly detailed novel about the heart and soul of the most famous woman of the twentieth century.” – Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of California Golden
The reason we read historical fiction is because sometimes the facts just aren’t enough. A brilliant, beautiful book like Dawn Tripp’s, Jackie, touches the soul in ways conventional biographies can’t. I devoured this novel, and felt the power of history and a remarkable woman.” – Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of The Princess of Las Vegas
“Society Bride. Mother. Fashion Plate. First Lady. Saint. Curse. Jackie Kennedy Onassis has been assigned more labels than possibly any other woman in American history, occupying an incomparable status in the collective imagination and historical record. But in her latest work, Dawn Tripp strips all the fable and labels away, plunging readers deep into the imagined inner world of this larger-than-life figure, who not only lived on the frontlines of history but had an active hand in shaping its course. I relished each page of this gorgeous, poetic, and piercing journey into the depths of an iconic woman’s heart, mind, and soul.” – Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller
“In her lyrical fever dream of a novel, Tripp offers a glimpse into the heart and soul of a thoughtful, brilliant woman who reluctantly stepped into the spotlight and was dogged by tragedy before ultimately coming into her own. From its gripping opening scene to the final page, I found myself entranced by Tripp’s prose and barely holding back tears. . . . Electrifying.” – Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular
“What a wondrous accomplishment JACKIE is. I would say the tale feels as if Tripp took dictation straight from her subject, except that would diminish the work and skill I know underlies every word of this hypnotic, intelligent, deeply felt accounting of what it may have been like to be the woman who never wanted to be the myth. I can’t imagine a better marriage of author and story. And what a fascinating, troubling, deeply human story to be immersed in. As many representations of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as there have been, this is the one that will stay with me.” – Therese Anne Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald