Diana & Jackie: Maidens, Mothers, Myths

"Irresistibly readable . . . it's not just another biography, it's a compare-and-contrast study of the two style-and-glamour icons." —Publishers Weekly

Diana, Princess of Wales and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were the most famous women of the twentieth century.Separated by nationality and a generation apart, they led surprisingly similar lives. Both were daughters of acrimonious divorce. Both wed men twelve years their senior who needed "trophy brides" to advance their careers. Both married into powerful and domineering families, who tried, unsuccessfully, to tame their willful independence. Both inherited power through marriage and both rebelled within their official roles. And both revolutionized dynasties.

Yet in many ways they were strikingly different: Jackie maintained an English "stiff upper lip" —never complaining, never explaining in the face of immense public curiosity. Diana lived her life with an American "quivering lower lip" —with televised tell-alls exposing her family drama to the world. These two lives have been well documented but never before compared or examined in the context of their times. Now this unique biography explores:

-The nature of their personalities, forged from the cradle by their relationships with their fathers, Black Jack Bouvier and Johnny Spencer

-Their early years, and their early relationships with men

-Their marriages, and the truth behind the lies, the betrayals and the arrangements

-Their greatest achievements: motherhood

-Their prickly relationships with their mothers-in-law, Rose Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II

-Their lives as single women and working mothers

-Their roles as icons and archetypes

Graced with never-before-seen photos from private collections, and painstakingly researched, Diana and Jackie presents these two remarkable women as they've never been seen before.

"Weaving the two lives together brings the icons even closer to their admirers." —Dallas Morning News

"Fun for anyone who loved either or both women . . . an eminently readable book." —Denver Post

© 2007 St. Martin's Press (E-bog): 9781429978422

Udgivelsesdato

E-bog: 2. oktober 2007