White House by the Sea

The intimate, multi-generational story of the Kennedy family as seen through their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Codthe iconic place where theyve celebrated, mourned, and forged the closest of bondsbased on more than a hundred in-depth interviews by a respected Esquire writer. Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, Americas most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and, also, grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husbands assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knotand even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift. Anyone who has lived in, worked at, or visited the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port has had a front-row view to history. Now, with extraordinary access to the Kennedy familyand featuring more than fifty rarely-seen imagesjournalist Kate Storey gives us a remarkably intimate and poignant look at the rhythms of an American dynasty. Drawing from more than a hundred conversations with family members, friends, neighbors, household and security staff, Storey delivers a rich and textured account of the Kennedys lives in their summer refuge. From the 1920s, when Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy rented then bought a home known as The Malcolm Cottage, to today, when many Kennedys have purchased their own homes surrounding whats now called The Big House, this book delivers many surprising revelations across the decades, including what matriarch Rose considered the familys greatest tragedy, the rivalrous relationship between brothers Jack and Joe, details about Jackies life at the compound, and previously unknown glimpses into JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessettes loving and ill-fated relationship. Fascinating, engaging, and illuminating, White House by the Sea provides a sweeping history of an American dynasty that has left an indelible mark on our nations politics and culture.