Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story

Written by Barbara Leaming

Narrated by Eliza Foss

The untold story of how one woman's life was changed forever in a matter of seconds by a horrific trauma.

Barbara Leaming's extraordinary and deeply sensitive biography is the first book to document Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' brutal, lonely and valiant thirty-one year struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that followed JFK's assassination.

Here is the woman as she has never been seen before. In heartrending detail, we witness a struggle that unfolded at times before our own eyes, but which we failed to understand.

Leaming's biography also makes clear the pattern of Jackie's life as a whole. We see how a spirited young woman's rejection of a predictable life led her to John F. Kennedy and the White House, how she sought to reconcile the conflicts of her marriage and the role she was to play, and how the trauma of her husband's murder which left her soaked in his blood and brains led her to seek a very different kind of life from the one she'd previously sought.

A life story that has been scrutinized countless times, seen here for the first time as the serious and important story that it is. A story for our times at a moment when we as a nation need more than ever to understand the impact of trauma.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Oct 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781427252333

Barbara Leaming

Barbara Leaming is a New York Times bestselling author. Her biography of John F. Kennedy was the first to detail the extraordinary influence of Winston Churchill on President Kennedy’s intellectual formation and political strategies. She lives in Connecticut.

Reviews for Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

[lg4154 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am glad that this book was cancelled for the book club, it is a very intense book about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and her life with John F. Kennedy, before and after the Presidential assassination. I have read several books about her, but nothing quite like this. This book extensively digs into the assassination and the aftermath of her PTSD in the years that followed her until her death. This book really makes you feel empathetic to her and what she went though. I do like the authors research in the background of Jacqueline and the years that followed her. This book was hard to get through sometimes and I found myself tearing up during most of it. I could only imagine what she went through into seeing the love of her life getting assassinated. She was a National treasure, a clothing trendsetter, and a very beautiful woman. I highly recommend this book and think this book makes a wonderful addition to any library.

[Leslee Fiszlewicz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It gave an insight to what her life was like with JFK

[Monica · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just to be able to feel what she felt! Society punished her for years without knowing she was suffering for this condition! A very good book, which went straight to my heart and mind

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was highly anticipating the receipt of this book. Having worked quite a bit in the field of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) debriefings, I wanted to read about how Jackie Kennedy Onassis dealt with her trauma in a time when PTSD was not even recognized. This book took a totally different slant on her life than any other book written about her.However, I must say that the first 100 pages were so full of detailed minutiae that I found it extremely boring. I probably would not have continued reading the book except that I felt it a duty to write a review since I was given the book by the publishers. I finally just started skimming pages. The parts where Leaming writes about Jackie’s behavior was very interesting. Now that so much is known about PTSD it is clear that Jackie was definitely suffering from it. The book is raw in telling some not very likeable aspects of John and Jackie Kennedy’s personalities. I think much of the minutiae could have been left out. But I did grow to respect her in a way I never had before. She fought a disorder that can be totally devastating and have resulted in many suicides. She had to fight this on her own which takes a lot of strength. I did not find the book very emotional as some did. I suspect this was because I wasn’t so sure of her love for John. For those who love anything about the Kennedys, you will like it. For others, probably not so much.

[briandrewz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A decent look at the life of America's most famous First Lady. Barbara Leaming gives us a portrait of a woman whom we now know suffered from PTSD after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.The book is far from giving a complete picture of Jackie's life, but it does give us some insight into some of the possible reasons for the choices she made.

[wrbinpa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

All her life Jackie had been a very proud woman and believed she should have things exactly as she wanted them. Life promised to be perfect after marrying John F Kennedy as she settled in comfortably with the Kennedy family. But two weeks after the honeymoon, perfection was only a memory. Years later, when Jackie thought about her early-married life, she remembered the velocity above everything else. “Life with him was just so fast.” JFK never stopped moving forward, but was always going on to something higher. And his health issues always shadowed their life. His back problems were very serious and always present, but the president learned to live gracefully with his pain. And then there were his sexual habits. Jackie had been told about this issue before the marriage, but failed to comprehend how serious it really was. Because of this she suffered a great deal of humiliation. Jackie was confronted with the same question over and over during the course of their marriage. “What shall I do?” Jackie grappled with tragedy and unbearable events all through her life and suffered from PTSD. There is a sadness that filters throughout the book as the writer takes us through that horrific day in Dallas, with the assassination of the president, and also his brother’s assassination, RFK, in 1968. It continues on with many more events, including Jackie’s marriage to Aristotle Onassis, and finally ends with her battle with lymphoma and death in 1994. I have always been fascinated with Jacqueline Kennedy and think of her as being the epitome of elegance and grace. She experienced many devastating losses, but somehow always persevered. The author’s style of writing is in great detail – much of it I found interesting, but much that I could’ve done without. But she certainly did her homework – the book was well researched. However, I would have liked more information on the children, Caroline and John, but that part of Jackie’s life was just briefly touched on. I also thought the last number of years in her life were rushed through.But, all in all, this was a very informative read and I highly recommend it. My rating is 4 stars.

[sigmundfraud · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have read so many biographies of Jackie Kennedy as well as others of the Kennedys. By now there is little new to be shared in these biographies. But Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story by Barbara Leamingbrought one new vision to me. Obviously Jackie would have been depressed after witnessing the assassination of her husband but Leaming spells out with much detail the deep protracted depression and PTSD that she experienced and it was disturbing to say the least. It went on for years and she was frightened for her safety, that of her children and of Teddy. She thought "they" would come to kill her eventually and her children. Many pages are devoted to her terrible stress which was moving to me. I urge you to read this book if you want to know more of her story without the sensationalism.

[bliznachkite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book because it gave me a very thorough understanding of Jackie's personality which played a key role in her dealings with PTSD. Everyone interested in her struggle with this disorder and the patterns of her behaviour which further unlocked this mental deviation should read it very carefully. Jackie is a hero in many ways because despite her daily struggle with PTSD,she managed to go on with her life and end up as a winner! She is an inspiration!

[Crystal Lam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Heartbreaking, true to history and quietly but staunchly observant. A very well written, well researched and well presented book & audiobook.