Kick

May 9, 2016
Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy (1920–1948) was as intelligent, vivacious, and attractive as her older and better known brother, John. Unfortunately, this account from British biographer Byrne (Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice) is neither gossipy enough to be a satisfying celebrity profile nor contextual enough to work as an illuminating woman-of-the-times story. In 1938, at age 18, Kennedy became a celebrity when her father was named ambassador to Great Britain and moved the family to London. That year, she met William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, and they fell in love. Religious differences and the outbreak of WWII kept them apart for a while, though Byrne glosses over the tumultuous European events of 1938–1939. Back in the U.S., Kennedy worked as a reporter for the Washington Times-Herald until she signed on with the Red Cross in 1943 during WWII and went back to England. Kennedy and Hartington married in 1944; she became a marchioness, but her fairy tale life didn’t have a happy ending. Byrne’s story lacks the texture necessary to make this an absorbing read, repeatedly falling into the trap of telling rather than showing. Moreover, she hasn’t convincingly demonstrated why Kennedy is worthy of a full-length biography. Illus.

May 15, 2016

Featuring newly uncovered material on the illustrious Kennedy family, Byrne's (Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead) account weaves the story of Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy (1920-48), the fourth of Rose and Joseph Kennedy Sr.'s nine children. This biography details Kick's life from her religious and politically centered upbringing to her contentious marriage to the heir apparent to the Duke of Devonshire, shedding light on a Kennedy whose story, heretofore, has been largely eclipsed by the fame of her relatives. Byrne successfully fuses letters, diary entries, and anecdotes from family and friends to animate Kick's personality and the pivotal points of her short life, such as her close relationship with brother John, years spent in Catholic boarding schools, her time as a reporter for the Washington Times-Herald, volunteer efforts in wartime England for the Red Cross, the renouncement of her faith preceding her marriage into a Protestant family, the death of her husband in combat, and her own death at 28 in a plane crash alongside the married eighth Earl Fitzwilliam. VERDICT This title will especially attract readers with an interest in American and English political dynasties and will have widespread appeal to fans of biographies.--Mattie Cook, River Grove P.L., IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
The Kennedys all kept journals, and Byrne (Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice, 2014, etc.) uses them to the fullest in this biography of Kathleen, aka Kick (1920-1948). In the first half of the book, the author relies heavily on those journals, and the narrative occasionally gets bogged down in Kick's lists of people she met, what she wore, and where she went. Thankfully for readers, she met the most famous people, wore the most beautiful clothes, and went to all the best parties. Byrne highlights the importance of Kick's close attachment and similar character to her brother, Jack, nearest to her in age. Her father, Joseph, was named ambassador to the Court of St. James, mostly to get him out of Franklin Roosevelt's hair. He and his family were loved and celebrated all over England, and the English men adored Kick. She encouraged them all without any intention of forming a deeper relationship--until she met Billy Cavendish, heir to the dukedom of Devonshire, which included Chatsworth and castles in Ireland, Scotland, Yorkshire, and Sussex. Joe Kennedy's statement that the British Empire was at an end and could never withstand Hitler put an end to his ambassadorship as well as his career. The story gets most interesting as Kick and Billy fall in love and face their insurmountable religious differences. The original Duke of Devonshire set the familial pattern of hatred of Catholics. The author follows the war years in which the couple searched for loopholes. She could never give up her faith, and Billy had the responsibility of many Church of England parish benefices. The story is heartrending as Kick returns to the U.S., Billy gets engaged to another, and the war rages on. At first, the book is less a biography and more a society report of England's upper class, but it evolves into an exciting, heartbreakingly tense love story.

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