Another enjoyable read from Laurie Graham. One way or another The Kennedys hold a certain fascination for most of us. I wonder where all nine children would have ended up had their parents, Joe senior and Rose not been so scheming and manipulative. In my eyes, not a happy family and they certainly had more than their share of tragedy. Once again I enjoyed Laurie Graham's writing and she's included many events true to the history of the Kennedys. ( )

Great story "as told" by the fictional nursery maid. ( )

I love reading about the Kennedys, for some unknown reason, and I have a soft spot for JFK, but who's to say what is fact and what is fiction when reading the many and multiform biographies and histories printed about the family? Laurie Graham's delightful novel does away with this question by openly combining the two.

Told through the eyes of Irish nurserymaid Nora Brennan, this is the story of the Kennedy family from the birth of eldest son Joseph Patrick to the death of Kick just after the war. Graham captures the familiar caricatures of the family, including greedy, ambitious Joe and cold-hearted Rose, but also creates a life 'below stairs' with the mostly Irish staff. Nora meets her husband Walter while staying at Chatsworth with Kick, who was briefly married to the eldest Devonshire son, and stays in touch with her family and friends in America. I love Nora's blunt wisdom and her dry wit, and her conversations and letters with her sister Margaret in New York are hilarious.

It is very easy to overlook this story as an ode to the Kennedys, but don't be put off. Even readers with no interest whatsoever in America's first family will enjoy Graham's easy narration and likeable characters. When Nora leaves the family to stay in England and get married, we experience the Second World War and the Blitz through her eyes. As in The Future Homemakers of America, Laurie Graham manages to represent both the beleaguered British and the independent Americans with spirit - Nora is respectful of her adopted country, but also does her part for the war effort in London. The Kennedys are portrayed sympathetically, for the most part - Joe might have forced his sons into politics, but he cared about his family, and even though Rose didn't seem to have a sentimental bone in her body, she was a strong woman who had a lot to put up with at home. Kick Kennedy comes across as a lovely, vibrant woman who breaks away from the family influence to live her own life in England, and poor Rosie's fate is heart-breaking.

Wonderful - amusing, honest, warm and cleverly told. ( )

Using the device of a fictional nanny, Graham takes an inside look at the Kennedy family, from shortly before the birth of JFK in 1917 to the death of daughter Kathleen in 1948. Nora Brennan, an Irish immigrant, is the main caretaker of the young children during these years. Graham's research seems evident, as she portrays the members of the large family. Father Joe is a philanderer. Mother Rose leaves much of the day-to-day care of the children to the nannies and often leaves on extended vacations. JFK (always called Jack by his family) was sickly throughout much of his life. Daughter Rose Marie was a sweet child, but became more difficult to manage as an adult and underwent a lobotomy which ruined her life. Daughter Kathleen was more or less cut off from the family (especially Rose) after she married a Protestant. When Kathleen dies in a plane crash, only her father attends her funeral in France. There is also much interesting material about daily life in London during the air raids of World War II. ( )

An uncorrected proof recieved for review from HarpersCollins. I enjoyed the book overall and thought the characters were portrayed accuratly. I think anyone whi ever was intrested in the Kennedy family would enjoy this glimpse of what it may have been like being a Kennedy child.

353 pages. ( )