She's the real power behind the Kennedy name.Now, for the first time, her secrets are exposed...

Meticulously researched...exposes backstage dramas at Kennedy nerve centers.

Provides all the dish about Ethel Kennedy.

She ruthlessly mocked her sister-in-law Jackie's breathyvoice, and often referred to her as “the Debutante.”

She kept a lengthy “enemies list,” and blackballed thosewho she felt were disloyal or critical of the Kennedys.

She turned Hickory Hill into an eerie shrine thatincluded life-sized photos of Bobby in closets thatstartled visitors.

She made one of the most difficult decisions of her lifewhen she agreed to “pull the plug” on Bobby as he laydying after being shot by Sirhan Sirhan.

She distanced herself from her own Skakel family, whosescandals exceeded those of even the Kennedys.

PART ONE: BEGINNINGS

 Yazoo County, Mississippi. Alcohol, Bigotry,

 and Racism · Billy “The Clock” Skakel · Ranch

 Life · Death from Drinking

PART TWO: THE PATRIARCH

 Finding a Wife · Off to War · Mining Money ·

 Baby Ethel · The Crash 

PART THREE: BOWL OF CHERRIES

 Depression Years · Moving East · Larchmont

 Living · The Tutor

PART FOUR: THE GREENWICH YEARS

 Lake Avenue · A WASP School · Bearer of the

 Cross · The PEP Girls · NatiOnal Velvet · Fast

 Cars and SmokingGuns · Skakels at War ·

 Balls, Teas, and Spaghetti Dinners · Ethel of

 the Sacred Heart

PART FIVE: COLLEGE GIRL

 Off to College · The Kennedy Clan · Ethel and

 Jean · Rich Girls · Chasing Boys · Bobby

 Kennedy · Man of Her Dreams · Wild Child ·

 Homecoming Queen · Bobby's Fling · Don't

 Look Back

PART SIX: BOBBY'S WIFE

 Engagement and Marriage · Charlottesville ·

 Settling In · Perfect Partner · First Stork ·

 Alexandra and Joe · Family Feud · Lake Avenue

 and the Fifties · Washington Bound · First

 Home · Ethel and'Jackie · Marrying Them Off

 Kennedy vs. Cohn · A Last Good-bye · End of

 an Era

PART SEVEN: CHIEF COUNSEL'S WIFE

 Hickory Hill · An Embarrassment for Bobby · A

 Tangled Web · A Murder in the Bronx · Winning

 the Big One

PART EIGHT: ATTORNEY GENERAL'S WIFE

 A Sexy Inauguration · Glamour Girl · The

 Knockoff Closet · Handmaidens · Bay of Pigs ·

 Hickory Hill Comes to Justice · Everybody into

 the Pool · A Question of Arson and Adultery ·

 Seducing the Press · Ethel's Enemy List · We

 Love Ethel · The Monroe Affair · Ethel, the

 Omnipotent · Family Affair · Life and Death ·

 Dallas · After Jack · To the Senate

PART NINE: SENATOR'S WIFE

 Camelot vs The Great Society · A Premonition

 · Knacky Baby · Death Wish · Thanksgiving

 Ride · Record Breaker · Final Meal

PART TEN: PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE'S WIFE

 Hat in the Ring · Save the White House · More

 Bombshells · “Old Moms” · The Jackie

 Problem · Winning and Losing · California

 Sunshine · The Light Is Snuffed Out

PART ELEVEN: WIDOWHOOD

 Going Home · Back in New York · The Funeral

 · Life Resumes · First Summer · Money Matters

 · Number Eleven · Two Faces of Ethel ·

  Chappaquiddick Summer · Letting Go · Little

 Brown Bag · Ethel and Andy ·Dating Game ·

 Anger and Fury · Stomach Pains · Horror Hill ·

 Bad Boys · Zany Playgirl · Martha Moxley ·

 More Scandal o. David's Drugs · Bobby's Drugs

 · David Redux · End of a Dynasty · Union Label

 · Ethel, Cliff, and Norm

Selected Bibliography

Notes

Index