Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

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Summary: Lifestyles of the rich and famous
Review: A family tree diagram would have helped as the author spends the first several chapters discussing the genealogy of all the families invloved. Also, how much everything--homes, furniture, etc. cost while Jackie was growing up and before her time-- (thousands) and what it would cost today (millions). After her divorce from Jackie's broke, philandering, alcoholic father Janet Lee Bouvier looks around for a man who would ensure a stable and wealthy future for herself and her daughters. She finds him in Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Jr., founder of a Washington, D.C. brokerage firm. Together they build a good life for his children, hers and the children they have together. Jackie had a loving and close relationship with her stepfather; her relationship with her mother had its ups and downs. Janet was definitely a social climber of the first order: when her daughter Lee announces her engagement Janet is thrilled because the fiance might be the illegitimate son of a member of a royal house! Nevertheless, she is a caring mother--always there for Jackie and her children through good and bad times. Jackie resents her mother for separating her from her father and keeping him away from her wedding to JFK, but she is never afraid to stand up to her when their opinions differ and she is there for her mother when Janet develops Alzheimer's disease. Not much new info for Jackie fans and it could have done with a little less who-married-who, but an enjoyable read anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: I loved this book! It was totally fascinating on so many levels. The lives of these two women were a pleasure to read about. The wealth and privilege described gave new dimension to what was commonly known of Jackies' life. I was sorry to finish this book.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Reading
Review: I loved this book. One thing I learned from reading
this book was the name of Jacqueline's 1st daughter which she miscarried. I have made many trips to D.C., especially making a point of visiting President Kennedy's gravesite where the bodies of Jacqueline and her two children are also buried. The name of her daughter on the gravsite is indicated as "unnamed". I am wondering why her name was never identified. If you are wondering what the name is, read the book.

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Summary: Mothers and daughters
Review: Jackie Kennedy Onassis is undisputedly one of the most written about women of our time. Surprisingly, there is very little written about her mother Janet Auchincloss. There is no doubt that Jackie was hugely influenced by Janet. Friends and family often remark on Janet's "demands" on both her daughters. Their dress, schooling, deportment were all noted and remarked upon. Jackie was more openly rebellious than her sister. Her parent's's divorce was difficult for a young girl who adored her father. Janet, no doubt stung by the public humilation, strove to protect her and her daughters' privacy and aura. Jackie was to go through life trying to reconcile those parts of her personality, the adventurous part(her father) and the socially correct side(Janet).
"Janet and Jackie" chronicles a mother/daughter relationship strained by divorce,remarriage,unspoken and unmet expectations, changes in society, wealth and fame. It is a portrait of the huge changes in "society" life. Jan Pottker describes a family of women restrained by society and their inability to communicate. "Janet and Jackie" provides a peek into the life of two fascinating women and the times that helped shape them.

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Summary: A great read!!
Review: Reading this book makes me feel as if I were in a time capsule back into the era when Janet Lee Bouvier Auchincloss lived..this book is an excellent biographical sketch of who and what shaped our future First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy..the book has historical value into the era of the 20's and 30's...the author writes beautifully, with interesting phrases..pg 99 "One martini, two martinis, three martini's, floor" !! I enjoyed it very much!

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Summary: Janet & Jackie: A ?Lame? Effort
Review: The life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis remains a favorite subject of tabloid journalists and biographers. Although the former first lady and her family have been scrutinized for decades, Jacqueline's mother, an extremely influential figure in her life, has been largely ignored. In the noteworthy but badly written Janet & Jackie, Jan Pottker analyzes their relationship and illuminates Janet Auchincloss's supportive presence in Jacqueline's life.
Pottker humanizes Janet, a woman usually portrayed by Jackie's biographers as a shadowy, mercurial, and abusive figure. Born into a generation of "well-mannered young ladies wearing pearls," the unconventional Janet Lee attended college and raced horses. At the age of 20, she married the dashing John "Black Jack" Bouvier. However, after the birth of their two daughters, Bouvier's alcoholism, gambling, and flagrant infidelity prompted Janet to divorce him. Janet's fabled volatility is depicted largely as a result of the extraordinary social pressures she faced as a 1930s divorcee. Desperate to secure the financial future of her young daughters, Janet married Hugh D. Auchincloss, one of America's wealthiest men.
Through Pottker's narrative, Janet emerges as a supportive figure in Jacqueline's turbulent life. It was Janet who rushed to Jackie's bedside after a stillbirth. Following the
assassination, it was Janet who placed the bloodstained pink suit in storage. After Jacqueline's marriage to Aristotle Onassis, it was Janet who publically supported the union, despite her private misgivings. While Jacqueline's marriages both lasted no more than a decade, Janet remained a constant, supportive presence in her life for sixty years.
Though informative, Janet & Jackie is marred by Pottker's appalling writing. Janet Auchincloss's affection for horseback riding leads to many unfortunate equine comparisons. According to Pottker, Janet reacts irritably to financial constraints "much like a thoroughbred would fret at being reined in at the gate." Even worse are Pottker's attempts to hold the choppy narrative together through absurdly tenuous links. A paragraph about Jackie's chain smoking is connected to her volatile temperament through the suggestion that "Jackie's temper could ignite, too."
Pottker's method of establishing simultaneity is also distracting. She often interrupts the narrative, interjecting parenthetical information that is seemingly connected only through random association. Although the facts are interesting, Pottker relies on this dumbed-down method all too often to establish obvious age differences. It is a senseless disruption of the narrative and quickly becomes tedious.
The poorly written Janet & Jackie remains noteworthy simply because it is the only work on this subject to date. Hopefully one of Pottker's readers, frustrated by the equine metaphors, will conduct a more thorough, well-written study of the relationship between these provocative women. Until then, the lackluster Janet & Jackie will have to suffice.

Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: the story is exciting, but the author speeks too much of janet, there are a few photos.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Interesting, Not Much New Information
Review: This book sets out to tell that it was Jackie Kennedy's mother that instilled strength in her daughter. What she acctually did was instill a self-hatred. There is a great book called "Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years" by Barbara Leaming. In that book the author states repeatedly that her mother treated her older daughter horribly. Onassis's mother would tell her daughter that her hair was too kinky and she had big feet her eyes were too big, her hands were too big and that no man would marry her because she was so unattractive in every way. Her mother may have been saying these things to make sure her daughter would act wisely so she could land a man, but it is obvious that these taunts had a neg. effect on her daughter. Onassis thought that her marriage to JKF was a faliure because she believed his cheating was the result of all the neg. things she thought she was, all those neg. things her mother said she was. Jackie thought that she had to stick out the marrage because she was lucky to have found a man that could look past her "ugly" looks. Hopefully the readers of this book will not be suckered into believing that this woman, Janet A. was a great woman. She was cruel to many people. The only good thing I can say about the subject is that she is a prime example of how far woman have come in this society. From being raised as Janet A. was to "land a man" to finding fullfilment within and not through wealth and marraige.