Publishers Weekly
02/17/2020
Wolfe debuts with this captivating fictionalization of the life and death of Mary Pinchot Meyer, a mistress to JFK, ex-wife to a high-ranking member of the CIA, and the victim of one of Washington, D.C.’s most notorious unsolved murder. Wolfe tells the story of this headstrong artist and socialite through diary entries: Mary attends dinner parties thrown by power brokers as Cold War politics and paranoia loom over government administrators, and documents her affair with the president, the culmination of decades of desire between the two. Mary is at her most unguarded when with JFK, whether in moments of intimacy or engaged in tense political debate. After Kennedy’s assassination, Mary’s refusal to accept the official explanation provokes the same powerful forces she wined and dined with to shadow her, leading to a dramatic ending. While Wolfe’s workaday prose does not always meet the enthralling facts of Mary’s life, fans of political dramas will enjoy this new take on a contentious time in the nation’s history. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"In real life, Mary Pinchot Meyer had a love affair with JFK, may have done LSD with him and was mysteriously murdered in 1964. Wolfe's riveting novel imagines what Meyer's diary—burned by the CIA after her death—might have revealed. Great fun for conspiracy theorists and romantics alike." — People
“Devilishly creative.” — Kitty Kelley author of Jackie Oh! and The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty
“In this novel that is part love story, part thriller and 100% page turner, Paul Wolfe takes you inside the sexual playgrounds of Cold War Washington, where spooks, secrets and LSD lurk behind every corner…” — Sally Koslow, author of Another Side of Paradise
"Wolfe gives poignant and poetic voice to... a free spirit and early feminist..What could be easily have been salacious fluff capitalizing on JFK’s sexual proclivities is, instead, a compassionate and intricate portrait of a woman’s psyche. By placing Meyer at the nexus of one of the twentieth century’s definitive eras, Wolfe’s inspired study of a cryptic woman is credible and haunting." — Booklist (starred review)
“The author deftly simulates a complicated woman's diary, creating a document that feels entirely authentic….. the author includes interesting political and historical details in the entries, shedding light on a woman with a front seat to American history.” — Kirkus Reviews
"This imagined diary of Mary Pinchot Meyer, socialite and lover of JFK, simmers with intrigue and sensuality, painting in vivid colors both the magnificence and dark underbelly of Camelot" — Newsweek
“Mary Pinchot Meyer, JFK’s lover, kept a secret diary that vanished after she was murdered in Georgetown in 1964. In this intriguing novel, Paul Wolfe creatively conjures up the life story she might have written.” — Meryl Gordon, bestselling author of Bunny Mellon, The Life of American Style Legend and Mrs. Astor Regrets
Booklist (starred review)
"Wolfe gives poignant and poetic voice to... a free spirit and early feminist..What could be easily have been salacious fluff capitalizing on JFK’s sexual proclivities is, instead, a compassionate and intricate portrait of a woman’s psyche. By placing Meyer at the nexus of one of the twentieth century’s definitive eras, Wolfe’s inspired study of a cryptic woman is credible and haunting."
People
"In real life, Mary Pinchot Meyer had a love affair with JFK, may have done LSD with him and was mysteriously murdered in 1964. Wolfe's riveting novel imagines what Meyer's diary—burned by the CIA after her death—might have revealed. Great fun for conspiracy theorists and romantics alike."
Kitty Kelley author of Jackie Oh! and The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty
Devilishly creative.
Newsweek
"This imagined diary of Mary Pinchot Meyer, socialite and lover of JFK, simmers with intrigue and sensuality, painting in vivid colors both the magnificence and dark underbelly of Camelot"
Sally Koslow
In this novel that is part love story, part thriller and 100% page turner, Paul Wolfe takes you inside the sexual playgrounds of Cold War Washington, where spooks, secrets and LSD lurk behind every corner…
Meryl Gordon
Mary Pinchot Meyer, JFK’s lover, kept a secret diary that vanished after she was murdered in Georgetown in 1964. In this intriguing novel, Paul Wolfe creatively conjures up the life story she might have written.”
Newsweek
"This imagined diary of Mary Pinchot Meyer, socialite and lover of JFK, simmers with intrigue and sensuality, painting in vivid colors both the magnificence and dark underbelly of Camelot"
Booklist (starred review)
"Wolfe gives poignant and poetic voice to... a free spirit and early feminist..What could be easily have been salacious fluff capitalizing on JFK’s sexual proclivities is, instead, a compassionate and intricate portrait of a woman’s psyche. By placing Meyer at the nexus of one of the twentieth century’s definitive eras, Wolfe’s inspired study of a cryptic woman is credible and haunting."
Kitty Kelley author of Jackie Oh! and The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty
Devilishly creative.
Kirkus Reviews
2019-11-25
A fictionalized diary of Mary Pinchot Meyer, the woman rumored to have stolen the heart of John F. Kennedy during his presidency.
Born into a wealthy Pennsylvania family, Mary Pinchot first met JFK when she was a teenager in boarding school. Years later, after marrying CIA agent Cord Meyer, Mary settled in Georgetown, where she and her husband regularly attended parties alongside several political heavyweights. It was in Georgetown that Mary reconnected with then-senator Kennedy. Following her divorce from Cord a few years later, Mary is thought to have developed an intimate emotional and physical relationship with JFK, and the book imagines this relationship as it may have evolved after Kennedy became president of the United States. Wolfe (Postcards From Atlantic City, 2015, etc.) uses Mary's fictional journal to portray this elusive woman as a politically informed, bohemian artist whose forward-thinking attitudes may have played a role in Kennedy's political decisions, especially during the Cuban missile crisis. The author's Mary Pinchot Meyer is convinced that Kennedy loves her more deeply than he has any other woman, including his wife. The closer Mary becomes with the president, however, the more she fears for her own safety. The author deftly simulates a complicated woman's diary, creating a document that feels entirely authentic—which includes assuming a certain level of knowledge on the reader's part about the primary players in several federal agencies of the early 1960s. True to its nature as a diary, the prose is often choppy and desultory, which results in a narrative that is sometimes difficult to follow. Even so, the author includes interesting political and historical details in the entries, shedding light on a woman with a front seat to American history.
A complicated and intimate story of JFK's secret life, best suited for American history buffs.
