The Summer I Met Jack

A Novel

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Pub Date May 29 2018 | Archive Date Jun 12 2018

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Description

"[The Summer I Met Jack] offers an alternate Kennedy family history that will leave readers wondering whether America knew the real JFK at all." --Kirkus Reviews

New York Times
bestselling author imagines the affair between John F. Kennedy and Alicia Corning Clark - and the child they may have had.

Based on a real story - in 1950, a young, beautiful Polish refugee arrives in Hyannisport, Massachusetts to work as a maid for one of the wealthiest families in America. Alicia is at once dazzled by the large and charismatic family, in particular the oldest son, a rising politician named Jack.

Alicia and Jack are soon engaged, but his domineering father forbids the marriage. And so, Alicia trades Hyannisport for Hollywood, and eventually Rome. She dates famous actors and athletes and royalty, including Gary Cooper, Kirk Douglas, and Katharine Hepburn, all the while staying close with Jack. A decade after they meet, on the eve of Jack’s inauguration as the thirty-fifth President of the United States, the two must confront what they mean to each other.

The Summer I Met Jack
by Michelle Gable is based on the fascinating real life of Alicia Corning Clark, a woman who J. Edgar Hoover insisted was paid by the Kennedys to keep quiet, not only about her romance with Jack Kennedy, but also a baby they may have had together.

"[The Summer I Met Jack] offers an alternate Kennedy family history that will leave readers wondering whether America knew the real JFK at all." --Kirkus Reviews

New York Times
bestselling author...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781250103246
PRICE $27.99 (USD)
PAGES 544

Average rating from 177 members


Featured Reviews

I have always been obsessed with the Kennedy's. The Summer I Met Jack fed my obsession and I had a hard time putting it down. Michelle Gable did an amazing job researching! I ended up falling down a Kennedy rabbit hole after reading this book and different accounts of Alicia Darr's life. This book is fiction but is based on real life people and events. Loved it!

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First I want to congratulate the author on the extensive amount of research she did to bring this novel to life. As a reader I appreciate it.

Secondly this novel was great. The Kennedy family has always been a family with a mysterious hold on the American people. In an era where handsome faces and beautiful women entertained us money above all talked. The Kennedys are nasty people!

I loved Alicia. She was a person who had to lie to survive. And she did so gracefully and advantageously. It saddened me that she died alone bc she had a huge heart.

I am captivated by this era and love that historical fiction is exploring it more.

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A terrific narrative, impossible to put down. I read it in one sitting. Michelle Gable offers an alternative view to what we thought we knew about JFK. The book details his love affair with Alicia Darr, but it is so much more than that. Alicia Darr is a vulnerable young immigrant, selling candy at a Cape Cod theater when she crosses paths with the handsome, wildly ambitious JFK. Alicia is naive (she isn't really sure what a "congressman" does) but she knows that Jack is on his way to great things and comes from a prominent family. When she secures a job as a housemaid at the Kennedy compound, she's in for some surprises. Definitely a great read. I love Michelle Gable's other books, especially SEE YOU IN PARIS.

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A senational book about the Kennedy family and Alicia Darr. A tale that is an exciting blend of history and fiction. The Summer I met Jack is a well researched book that details many stories you have read or heard and a few you may not have. A woman who cannot resist the man she loves even when she knows better. A man who is tempted by love but in the end cares only for himself and will do anything to achieve power and prestige. A compelling story of their accomplishments and the sorrow that follows.
I’ve been a fan of Michelle Gable‘s since her first book and have anxiously awaited each new book. Read all of them she never disappoints.

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This a book masterfully written. It is a love story of JFK and Alicia. It is written with fiction interwoven with facts. An extraordinary love story of two of the most polar opposite people imagined. A displaced polish girl, a Jew. And, a politically driven, high class Catholic. A red blooded American who comes from a wealthy well known family.
Each character has their strengths and weaknesses. Meshed together they make a volatile but wondrous couple. Each are determined to accomplish and become part of the American dream. One, driven to succeed no matter what it takes. The other, wanting love and security, looking in all the wrong places with all the wrong people.
Magical, controversial, thoughtful.
5 Stars

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