The Kennedy Debutante by Kerri Maher

The Kennedy Debutante grew on me as I got deeper into this historical novel about Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy. When her father Joseph Kennedy, Sr., was ambassador to England in the run-up to WWII, Kathleen was a hit on the London social scene and was named Debutante of the Year in London.

Fresh, stylish, and witty, she wasn't afraid to spread her wings a little bit, but, like all her family, was ever mindful of her Irish Catholic roots. In those days and in the crowd Kathleen ran with, this meant always being a little self-conscious about being different from most of the British aristocrats she socialized with. She often dated friends of her brothers, Joe, Jr., and Jack.

When she met William Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, the attraction was almost immediate. Kick and "Billy" downplayed their romance though, concerned about religious differences. Those differences and the impending war meant nothing would be simple or easy. Their off-again, on-again romance survived ultimately, although it ended tragically, with Billy's death close to the end of the war.

For me, the book picked up as the war began, forcing Kathleen back to the US and introducing more uncertainty into her relationship with Billy. She didn't just love him, she loved London as well, and her separation from her beloved city was agonizing. Never content to be just a socialite, she channeled her energy into work, always hoping to get back to England and to assist as best she could with the war effort.

Author Kerri Maher did a monumental amount of research into Kathleen Kennedy's life. Kathleen is one of the more obscure Kennedys, if there can even be such a thing, largely because her life was so short. She died in a plane crash before the age of thirty. Maher studied as much as she could about this younger sister of JFK, letting Kathleen's light shine as she aspires for a life of love, faith, and purpose.
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The author's dedication to her subject comes through and will inspire readers to Google more about these star-crossed lovers and also about Kathleen's older sister Rosemary, whose own story was even more tragic than Kick's. There is a biography of Rosemary in the Moon Lake collection. 

I started reading the book knowing little about Kathleen Kennedy beyond the fact that she'd died in a plane crash years before her brother's run for the presidency in 1960. While this was a novel, and a first novel at that, I came away from it with an appreciation for a young woman whose dedication to faith and family were often at odds, but who ultimately found her own way to be herself in an imperfect and impermanent world.

The Kennedy Debutante was published October 2, 2018 by Berkley Books and is available for checkout from Moon Lake Library. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

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