Barbara Leaming

Traces the pattern of Jacqueline Onassis' life from her youth to her transformation into a deft political wife and unique First Lady, and examines her thirty-year struggle with PTSD after the assassination of her husband, John F. Kennedy.

The Untold Story

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

A Los Angeles Times Bestseller Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy was the incandescent life-force of the fabled Kennedy family, her father’s acknowledged “favorite of all the children” and her brother Jack’s “psychological twin.” She was the Kennedy of Kennedys, sure of her privilege, magnetically charming and somehow not quite like anyone else on whatever stage she happened to grace. The daughter of the American ambassador to the Court of St James’s, Kick swept into Britain’s aristocracy like a fresh wind on a sweltering summer day. In a decaying world where everything was based on stultifying sameness and similarity, she was gloriously, exhilaratingly different. Kick was the girl whom all the boys fell in love with, the girl who remained painfully out of reach for most of them. To Kick, everything about this life was fun and amusing—until suddenly it was not. For this is also a story of how a girl like Kick, a girl who had everything, a girl who seemed made for happiness, confronted crushing sadness. Willing to pay the price for choosing the love she wanted, she would have to face the consequences of forsaking much that was dear to her. Bestselling and award-winning biographer Barbara Leaming draws on her unique access to firsthand accounts, extensive conversations with many of the key players, and previously-unseen sources to transport us to another world, one of immense wealth, arcane rituals and rules, glamour and tragedy, that has now disappeared forever. It was a world of dukes and duchesses, of grand houses, of country house weekends, and of wild rich boys. But it was also a world of blood and war, and of immeasurable loss. It was a time of complete upheaval, as reflected in the life of this most unlikely and unforgettable central character. Kick Kennedy reveals her story, that of a young girl learning about love, sex, and death—and doing it all at warp speed as the world races toward war and then reels in the war’s chaotic aftermath. This is the coming-of-age story of the female star of the Kennedy family, and ultimately a tragic, romantic story that will break your heart.

The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter

Kick Kennedy

A beautiful actress, a gifted dancer, a fiery screen temptress linked to some of the most handsome men of her generation, Rita Hayworth seemed to live the life that dreams are made of. But the reality behind the fantasy was a harsh one. Sexually abused by her father as a young girl, Rita constantly searched for a man to save her, marrying five times. At the age of forty-two, Alzheimer's disease began to ravage her mind, cutting short her career at its peak. A haunting and sympathetic tribute to the talented but insecure beauty who was created, and ultimately destroyed, by the movies. "From the Paperback edition.

A Biography of Rita Hayworth

If This Was Happiness

Presents an account of the life, loves, career, and death of Marilyn Monroe, including an examination of her relationship with John F. Kennedy.

Marilyn Monroe

Churchill fights on, 1945-1955

The decision

The first major biography of Bette Davis since her death in 1989 provides a revealing look at her rise to the top, her complicated familial relationships, and her bouts with alcoholism and cancer. 65,000 first printing. National ad/promo. Tour.

A Biography

Bette Davis

The instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller! The untold story of how one woman's life was changed forever in a matter of seconds by a horrific trauma. Barbara Leaming's extraordinary and deeply sensitive biography is the first book to document Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' brutal, lonely and valiant thirty-one year struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that followed JFK's assassination. Here is the woman as she has never been seen before. In heartrending detail, we witness a struggle that unfolded at times before our own eyes, but which we failed to understand. Leaming's biography also makes clear the pattern of Jackie's life as a whole. We see how a spirited young woman's rejection of a predictable life led her to John F. Kennedy and the White House, how she sought to reconcile the conflicts of her marriage and the role she was to play, and how the trauma of her husband's murder which left her soaked in his blood and brains led her to seek a very different kind of life from the one she'd previously sought. A life story that has been scrutinized countless times, seen here for the first time as the serious and important story that it is. A story for our times at a moment when we as a nation need more than ever to understand the impact of trauma.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story

Based on letters by Hepburn, her friends and family, as well as on interviews with Katharine Hepburn herself, this biography is a compelling saga, a love story, and a family story that brings alive three generations of fearless women.

Katharine Hepburn

A portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy during the thousand days of JFK's administration sheds new light on her life as both a woman and as First Lady, revealing struggles for herself, her marriage, and her husband's presidency.

The Missing History of the Kennedy Years

Mrs. Kennedy

"...[A] beautifully researched, valuable study of one of America's most influential and mysterious artists. ...[What] makes this book remarkable is Welle's own contribution. His comments, opinions, interviews cut in and out of the narrative with an almost cinematic force." -Patricia Bosworth

Orson Welles

His Life and Films

Polanski

Polanski, His Life and Films

a biography

At last, the definitive biography of Katharine Hepburn -- the story she herself has never told. Hollywood has produced many stars, but no one compares to Katharine Hepburn. She is the last of the great ones; a celebrated actress, a brilliant personality, and original. In more than sixty years of public life, countless men have fallen in love with her, women have admired her, and yet only a handful have ever known the real Kate. For her New York Times best seller, Barbara Leaming discovered thousands of never-before-seen documents that finally illuminate the mystery of this enigmatic, fascinating artist. From letters by Hepburn, her friends and her family, as well as from interviews with Hepburn herself, Mr. Leaming has written a saga as vivid and entracing as any novel. It is also a richly textured, altogether compelling biography of a great American woman.

"Culled largely from the actress's private diaries, scrapbooks, and previously unpublished letters - as well as conversations with her friends, lovers, fellow actors, and family members - here is the full story of cinematic legend Bette Davis (1908-1989). Barbara Leaming chronicles the Academy Award-winner's work in such memorable films as Of Human Bondage, Jezebel, Dark Victory, All About Eve, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, as well as her four unhappy marriages, her notorious legal battles with Warner Bros., and her struggles with both alcoholism and mental illness."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy was the incandescent life-force of the fabled Kennedy family, her father’s acknowledged “favorite of all the children” and her brother Jack’s “psychological twin.” She was the Kennedy of Kennedys, sure of her privilege, magnetically charming and somehow not quite like anyone else on whatever stage she happened to grace. The daughter of the American ambassador to the Court of St James’s, Kick swept into Britain’s aristocracy like a fresh wind on a sweltering summer day. In a decaying world where everything was based on stultifying sameness and similarity, she was gloriously, exhilaratingly different. Kick was the girl whom all the boys fell in love with, the girl who remained painfully out of reach for most of them. To Kick, everything about this life was fun and amusing—until suddenly it was not. For this is also a story of how a girl like Kick, a girl who had everything, a girl who seemed made for happiness, confronted crushing sadness. Willing to pay the price for choosing the love she wanted, she would have to face the consequences of forsaking much that was dear to her. Bestselling and award-winning biographer Barbara Leaming draws on her unique access to firsthand accounts, extensive conversations with many of the key players, and previously-unseen sources to transport us to another world, one of immense wealth, arcane rituals and rules, glamour and tragedy, that has now disappeared forever. It was a world of dukes and duchesses, of grand houses, of country house weekends, and of wild rich boys. But it was also a world of blood and war, and of immeasurable loss. It was a time of complete upheaval, as reflected in the life of this most unlikely and unforgettable central character. Kick Kennedy reveals her story, that of a young girl learning about love, sex, and death—and doing it all at warp speed as the world races toward war and then reels in the war’s chaotic aftermath. This is the coming-of-age story of the female star of the Kennedy family, and ultimately a tragic, romantic story that will break your heart.

The New York Times and USA Today bestseller that "offers a startling and fascinating look at Jackie's life." —Richmond Times-Dispatch

Barbara Leaming

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