Importance Of Being Kennedy

Product Description

A brilliant novel by Laurie Graham set in wartime London which follows Kick Kennedy sister of future US President JFK as she takes London society by storm. Nora Brennan is a country girl from Westmeath. When she lands herself a position as nursery maid to a family in Brookline Massachusetts she little thinks it will place her at the heart of American history. But its the Kennedy family. In 1917 Joseph Kennedy is on his way to his first million & he has plans to found a dynasty & ensure that his baby son Joe Junior will be the first Catholic President of the United States. As nursemaid to all nine Kennedy children Nora witnesses every moment public & private. She sees the boys coached at their fathers knee to believe everything theyll ever want in life can be bought. She sees the girls trained by their mother to be good Catholic wives. World War II changes everything. At the outbreak of war the Kennedys are living the high life in London where Joseph Kennedy is the American ambassador. His reaction is to send the entire household back across the Atlantic to safety but Nora surprised by midlife love chooses to stay in England & do her bit. Separated from her Kennedys by an ocean she nevertheless remains the warm approachable sun around which the older children orbit: Joe Jack Rosemary & in particular Kick who throws the first spanner in the Kennedy works by marrying an English Protestant. Laurie Grahams poignant new novel views the Kennedys from below stairs with the humour & candour that only an ex-nursemaid dare employ.