The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable – 515 pages
ARC courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4 stars
The Summer I Met Jack is about JFK’s former lover and “girl” before his marriage to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. I knew nothing about JFK’s pre-presidential life as I was born after his assassination. What I know was taught in my high school history class, which obviously did not cover lovers and girls on the side.
Learning about the Polish immigrant who stopped this charismatic man in his tracks was fascinating. She took chances, pushed limits and got to a place in society that many envied. The book will go into details as to why she couldn’t marry the then congressman and it’s quite upsetting. The Kennedys took religion and family seriously and the reader gets an inside look at the power of this through many of the families antics.
I found this information juicy enough that I spent time googling all the names mentioned in the book…J. Edgar Hoover, Katherine Hepburn, Gary Cooper and all of JFK’s siblings. Being historical fiction and what I like to call revisionist fiction, I was eager to sort the historically accurate parts from the fictionalized parts. This was a rather lengthy novel and I definitely lost focus in some of the sections. All of Alicia’s trips to Italy, her many lovers and husbands just bogged down some of the great storytelling. It’d would’ve been better had it some pages shaved off. This is definitely a good book to bridge readers from strictly women’s fiction to historical fiction. Attached is a photo of Alicia Corning Clark.
Quotes I liked:
True love is total devotion. And sometimes you really have to give all of yourself, every last miserable piece.”
– “But you give because you love, not because you expect something. If you’re lucky, you may be loved back, which is a wonderful thing, but there is no guarantee.”
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