Book Review: Once Upon A Secret

In keeping with our patriotic theme from yesterday, I have two political memoirs to review today and tomorrow about the Kennedys. But these memoirs are by people who were close with the President JFK (in today's case) and the First Lady Jackie Kennedy (tomorrow's book) in ways that were not as documented in the history of their lives.

Once Upon A Secret, by Mimi Alford, is the memoir of JFK's mistress. She was an intern in the White House press office, and news of her affair with the president only came out recently--the book was just published this year.

There are so many things I liked about this book, which is not so much filled with details about their actual affair, but the context surrounding it. For starters, I loved getting a glimpse into life in the White House press office, back before the Internet dominated the news cycle. I also love this time period, and Alford does a fantastic job of setting the scene for you in that time period, providing the social context, as well. For example, she discusses how JFK's womanizing was not more of a story than it was. A lot of it, she said, had to do with the fact that he was a well-loved president, especially by the press, and people didn't want to believe that about him.

But what was most interesting was that she is easy to relate to. The memoir talks about her life afterward, and how she considers her self to be a footnote to a footnote in history. She says that she didn't have any influence over the president, she just knew him and loved him. She also talks about how keeping this secret impacted her life, both for the bad and for the good. I think that this can be applied to anyone's life, in that sometimes these notable moments in life can lead you down a path that has unexpected influence on you.

If you decide to check this book out, I highly recommend the audio book version. As is the case with most of the books I listen to, I end up sitting in my car for a while because I didn't want to stop listening.