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Ethel Kennedy

The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy
Brief Description
What an incredible life of triumph and tragedy, faith, and love. — Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Vanderbilt A daughter’s tender homage to a consequential woman. — Kirkus Reviews A vivid, intimate biography of American icon Ethel Kennedy by her daughter Kerry... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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$4299
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Releases 1st December 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Ethel Kennedy" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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What an incredible life of triumph and tragedy, faith, and love. — Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Vanderbilt

A daughter’s tender homage to a consequential woman. — Kirkus Reviews

A vivid, intimate biography of American icon Ethel Kennedy by her daughter Kerry Kennedy, told through her firsthand memories and exclusive access to Ethel’s personal papers.

When her husband Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968, Ethel Skakel Kennedy—then pregnant with their eleventh child—drew national attention for her grace, dignity, and resolute commitment to furthering his work in human rights, even in her grief. But as her daughter Kerry witnessed, Ethel was so much more than a dutiful wife and keeper of Robert's legacy of service. She was courageous, curious, compassionate, boisterous, and witty, always guided by faith and an instinct for speaking truth to power.

Kerry delves into her own memories, her family's recollections, and her mother's private papers, describing:

  • Ethel's family's journey from a working-class Chicago background to life in tony Greenwich, Connecticut
  • Ethel's fairytale romance with Kerry's father RFK—a courtship that inspired a Taylor Swift song half a century later
  • How the bold, athletic Ethel quickly became "more Kennedy than the Kennedys"
  • The years on the famed family properties in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and the Hickory Hill estate in Virginia, where Kerry and her ten siblings grew up amidst presidents and politicians, Olympians and Hollywood stars, and a rambunctious menagerie of pet animals
  • Moments of pain and loss—RFK’s death just five years after that of his brother; and the tragic deaths of two of Kerry’s siblings
  • Ethel’s unflagging commitment to global human rights causes that carried on through the decades

Ethel Kennedy inspires us to reject cynicism and to live bigger and bolder.

The book includes 24 pages of colour photographs.

Catalogue Marketing Campaign

  • National Television, Radio, Print, and Online Campaign
  • Political, Literary, and Cultural Media Coverage
  • Podcast and NPR Interviews
  • Library Outreach and Promotion
  • Outreach to History, Politics and Women’s Interest Podcasts, Sites, and Newsletters
  • Author Events in Hyannis Port, MA and by Request
  • Buzz Building Campaign Including Paid Advertising and Giveaways on Goodreads
  • VIP Tastemaker Buzz Campaign
  • Extensive Organic and Paid Promotion on Social Media:
    • IG: kerrykennedyrfk (53k)
    • FB: @KerryKennedyRFK (56k)
  • National Advertising Campaign

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780063706736

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 December 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: HarperCollins

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Weight: 0g

Pages: 416

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