Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
"[ The Summer I Met Jack ] offers an alternate Kennedy family history that will leave readers wondering whether America knew the real JFK at all." -- Kirkus Reviews
New York Times bestselling author imagines the affair between John F. Kennedy and Alicia Corning Clark - and the child they may have had.
Based on a real story - in 1950, a young, beautiful Polish refugee arrives in Hyannisport, Massachusetts to work as a maid for one of the wealthiest families in America. Alicia is at once dazzled by the large and charismatic family, in particular the oldest son, a rising politician named Jack.
Alicia and Jack are soon engaged, but his domineering father forbids the marriage. And so, Alicia trades Hyannisport for Hollywood, and eventually Rome. She dates famous actors and athletes and royalty, including Gary Cooper, Kirk Douglas, and Katharine Hepburn, all the while staying close with Jack. A decade after they meet, on the eve of Jack's inauguration as the thirty-fifth President of the United States, the two must confront what they mean to each other.
The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable is based on the fascinating real life of Alicia Corning Clark, a woman who J. Edgar Hoover insisted was paid by the Kennedys to keep quiet, not only about her romance with Jack Kennedy, but also a baby they may have had together.
New York Times bestselling author imagines the affair between John F. Kennedy and Alicia Corning Clark - and the child they may have had. Based on a real story - in 1950, a young, beautiful Polish refugee arrives in Hyannisport, Massachusetts to work as a maid for one of the wealthiest families in America. Alicia is at once dazzled by the large and charismatic family, in particular the oldest son, a rising politician named Jack. Alicia and Jack are soon engaged, but his domineering father forbids the marriage. And so, Alicia trades Hyannisport for Hollywood, and eventually Rome. She dates famous actors and athletes and royalty, including Gary Cooper, Kirk Douglas, and Katharine Hepburn, all the while staying close with Jack. A decade after they meet, on the eve of Jack's inauguration as the thirty-fifth President of the United States, the two must confront what they mean to each other. The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable is based on the fascinating real life of Alicia Corning Clark, a woman who J. Edgar Hoover insisted was paid by the Kennedys to keep quiet, not only about her romance with Jack Kennedy, but also a baby they may have had together.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Alicia Darr (born Barbara Kopczynska) is a Polish refugee who immigrates to the United States in 1950; she lands a summer job in the Kennedy household in Hyannisport, MA, and an introduction to the family's up-and-coming politician Jack. A relationship quickly blossoms while Alicia maintains her perpetual chameleon-like identity. When her past catches up with her, she leaves the East Coast for a fresh start in Hollywood, where an A-list circle of acquaintances grows to include Gary Cooper, Katharine Hepburn, and Marilyn Monroe. Alicia's journey continues through multiple love affairs (she marries into the Corning-Clark family and becomes quite wealthy), career attempts (writer, actress), and family reckonings that dovetail nicely with the ascent of the Kennedy dynasty in America. Gable (A Paris Apartment; I'll See You in Paris) seamlessly weaves this modern love story with history, ensuring romantic tension that doesn't end with the acceleration of Jack's career. VERDICT Based on real events, this compassionate and intelligent blend of Adriana Trigiani's All the Stars in the Heavens and Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.'s Empty Mansions offers massive cross-genre appeal. [See Prepub Alert, 11/28/17.]-Tina Panik, Avon Free P.L., CT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
Gable (The Book of Summer) brings Polish émigré and artist Alicia Darr to vivid life in this sparkling novel, most famously her intense romance with then-congressman John F. "Jack" Kennedy in the early '50s. After time in a German Displaced Persons camp, Alicia takes a job as a housekeeper for the bustling, chaotic Kennedy family at their Hyannis Port, Mass., compound in 1950. Sparks fly instantly when she meets Jack. They plan to marry until Jack's father discovers that Alicia is Jewish. Brokenhearted, Alicia moves to Hollywood and soon befriends celebrities like Katherine Hepburn and Gary Cooper, eventually marrying actor Edmund Purdom and later the heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune, Alfred Corning Clark, only 13 days before his death. Gable also explores Alicia's time in Rome with eccentric artist Novella Palmisano, which leads to a few surprises in the third act. Brief interludes throughout detail the search for an heir to Alicia's fortune after her death in 2016. Gale elegantly captures the glitter, glamour, and gossip of 1950s Hollywood without resorting to melodrama, and, while JFK is a perennially fascinating figure, this is Alicia's story: a splendid portrait of a spirited survivor thriving in a man's world, even as memories of Jack, her only true love, linger. This bittersweet tale will enthrall readers. 100,000-copy announced first printing. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Gable (The Book of Summer, 2017) offers an unvarnished, fictional view of a maid's affair with a young Jack Kennedy and its repercussions throughout her life, and possibly for U.S. history. In 1950, Alicia Darr is a Polish displaced person working at a movie theater in Hyannis when she is taken on as a temporary maid at the crowded and chaotic Kennedy summer house. She is just 21 years old and has already reinvented herself more than once since living in prewar affluence. Her beauty catches the eye of Jack, then a young congressman, and they are soon involved in a passionate affair. Alicia is an excellent match for Jack intellectually, sexually, and socially, until a secret from her past causes him to call off their engagement. Alicia leaves Hyannis for Hollywood and begins to make her own way, maintaining intermittent contact with Jack until he becomes president. Gable brings her her flair for multigenerational stories rooted in New England summers to this inspired-by-a-true-story tale that will appeal to Kennedy watchers, seasonal romantics, and fans of old Hollywood.--Moroni, Alene Copyright 2018 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
A Polish-Jewish immigrant has a romantic affair with John F. Kennedy in this vivid historical novel.Barbara Kopczysnka leaves Poland in the late 1940s and arrives fresh-faced and ambitious in Oklahoma. She changes her name to Alicia Darr and moves in with other displaced young women. When Irenka, one of her roommates, relocates to the East Coast, Alicia follows her to Hyannisport and secures a position as a maid to the boisterous Kennedy family. Each Kennedy seems quirkier than the nextfrom the stern and exacting Rose to her philandering and controlling husband, Joe. Yet none of the Kennedys is as magnetic or enchanting as the handsome, larger-than-life Jack. Alicia is immediately smitten, and to her great delight, her affections are returned. After a whirlwind courtship, the young Congressman proposes to Alicia. Unfortunately, Alicia's old friend Irenka sells her out, alerting Joe that his son has proposed to a Jew. Concerned about the consequences of Alicia's religious background on Jack's political career, Joe forbids the marriage. Although Jack seems prepared to defy his father, Alicia understands that without Joe's blessing, the couple will never enjoy a truly successful marriage, so she ends the affair. The book then tracks Jack's astronomical political ascent as well as the new life Alicia builds for herself in Hollywood. As the years pass, Jack simply cannot forget Alicia, and he continues to pursue her well into his married days. As the Kennedy family becomes increasingly powerful, Alicia's position as Jack's true love seems to put her in great danger. Based on true events from the life of American socialite Alicia Corning Clark, the story offers an alternate Kennedy family history that will leave readers wondering whether America knew the real JFK at all.A riveting tale about America's most romanticized family. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextPublication details: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2018.Edition: First editionDescription: 515 pages ; 25 cmISBN: