Best bets for your weekend reading: 'The Kennedy Debutante,' Doris Kearns Goodwin and more
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include "The Kennedy Debutante," a historical novel about "Kick" Kennedy, JFK's charming, tragic sister.
“The Kennedy Debutante” by Kerri Maher; Berkley, 384 pp.; fiction
Move over, JFK, Jackie, Bobby and John F. Kennedy Jr. The charismatic Kennedy portrayed in Maher’s new novel may be the most winning member of America’s royal family.
Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy – like her brothers Joe, Jack and Robert – died tragically young. But this story ends before Kick was killed in a plane crash in France at age 28.
At 18, Kick accompanied her family to London in 1938 when her father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was named ambassador to Great Britain. As Adolf Hitler brutalizes his way through Europe, Ambassador Kennedy urges Britain to avoid war, a position that earns him derision and a reputation as anti-Semitic. Even Kick challenges her father’s non-interventionist stance.
World events aside, Kick is entranced by her life in London, making her debut before the king of England amid a swirl of cocktail parties with swell friends named Sissy, Boofie, Debo and Bertrand.
Kick’s dilemma, and the key drama of this debut novel, seems positively quaint today. She has fallen for aristocratic Billy Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, who is also – mother, grab your Mikimotos – a Protestant.
Paste BN says ★★★ out of four. “Will hold particular appeal to fans of TV’s ‘Downton Abbey’… well-paced and engaging.”
“Button Man” by Andrew Gross; Minotaur, 371 pp.; fiction
This saga of the garment trade tracks the three Rabishevsky brothers as they are rewarded with success – but then must deal with the Mob in the form of fearsome Louis “Lepke” Buchalter.
Paste BN says ★★★½. “Irresistible … a big, heartfelt handshake of a book.”
"The Wildlands" by Abby Geni; Counterpoint, 357 pp.; fiction
Set in a small Oklahoma town after a tornado, this mystery centers primarily on Cora McCloud, who finds her missing older brother Tucker, an inept eco-terrorist, just when he needs her most, and she needs him least.
Paste BN says ★★★½. “From the moment Geni’s second novel starts, you know you’re in good hands … humane, moving.”
“Leadership: In Turbulent Times” by Doris Kearns Goodwin; Simon & Schuster, 368 pp.; nonfiction
Goodwin focuses on the formative qualities of her White House heroes: Abraham Lincoln’s folksy people skills, the two Roosevelts’ energy and empathy, Lyndon Johnson’s force of personality and sense of purpose.
Paste BN says ★★★★. “A fascinating study … beautifully structured.”
“Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam” by Brian VanDeMark; Custom House, 542 pp.; nonfiction
A history professor at the United States Naval Academy brings invaluable perspective to this analysis of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Paste BN says ★★★★. “Absolutely first-rate.”
Contributing reviewers: Patty Rhule, Charles Finch, Matt Damsker, George Petras
