Customer Reviews

JACKIE BY JOSIE: A Novel

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jackie By Josie is an excellent and impressive debut novel by Caroline Preston. For me, a person who does not liked to be bogged down with heavy writing, difficult words, and poetically graphic sentences, I found the author's quick and clear style very refreshing. And while the story itself took awhile to get my attention at first, I quickly become enmeshed in the story of Josie and her summer of dirt-digging, marriage-reflecting, and mother-sitting.

For Josie Trask, discouraged and restless over her unfinished dissertation, a chance to dig up the dish on Jackie Kennedy for Fiona Jones, celebrity biographer, is a welcomed distraction. Josie and her 3-year-old son, Henry, move in with her mother for the summer while Peter, Josie's husband, drives across country with fellow classmate, Monica, to their respective teaching jobs in California. Sounds cut-and-dried, but it seems moving in with Mom isn't all it's cracked up to be. And having your husband riding shotgun with another woman does nothing for Josie's state of mind. Full of all sorts of awakenings about herself and those around her, Josie's summer brings her more than she's ever bargained for.

Jackie By Josie is a novel that delves into the intricate weavings of marriage, family, trust and happiness. Spiced with true quotes and events from the life of Jackie Kennedy, Caroline Preston has expertly blended the two story lines together and created a unique and life-enhancing parallel between Jackie and Josie. Great first effort. I will be reading this author again.

As most of the reviewers point out, this is a clever and well thought out novel about a woman in a sort of early mid life crises dealing with an aging mother with a drinking problem and a new boy friend, a dysfunctional childhood and her work as a background researcher for a forth coming expose on Jackie Kennedy. To boot there is the subplot about Josie's own marriage to Peter which appears to be on the rocks for much of the novel thanks to their so called friend Monica.

Since I don't believe that anyone has a so called perfect marriage, I thought that the depictions of married life - including that of JFK and JBKO - were accurate. Most people's marriages are not perfect but they put up with things and endure problems for the sake of the marriage.

The parallels between the characters was well thought out. The suspense about the characters and their background does much to enhance the novel.

And to boot, if you are a Kennedy buff, there is good information.

This is a very clever and fun book, one that can be enjoyed by anyone wanting to read about a smart, somewhat lost, young woman, who ends up finding herself by discovering things about Jackie Kennedy. The book is so touching and kept me totally involved, anxious to see how things would turn out for this intelligent compelling person. And for you people out there who don't think you would enjoy a book with a parallel story about Jackie Kennedy, pick this book up anyway. The author has used the parallel in such a clever way, it is worth the try. I am looking forward to more books by this wonderful author.

Jackie By Josie is a fun read & quite a clever concept. Not only do you get a good story about Josie, the main character, but you also get a lot of fun tidbits and rumors/trivia about Jackie Kennedy. In this novel, we meet Josie, who spends the summer living with her mom, and Josie's 3 year old boy Henry on the east coast. Peter, Josie's husband, is in California and Josie plans to join him in the fall. For the summer Josie has agreed to be a research assistant, helping Fiona Jones uncover anything she can get her hands on about Jackie Kennedy. This story explores the complexities of relationships-how do you know if you can trust your spouse, being happy with who you are, and accepting that famous or not, we all have our own obstacles and discoveries to make in life. Whether you are married to JFK or Peter, no marriage is perfect and you have to put in a lot of work and effort. Spend the summer with Josie-it's worth it!

I was expecting a light Bridget Jones-ish read when I picked this up in the bargain bin. I was pleasantly surprised.

The story follows Josie Trask, wife of Peter, mother of 3-year-old Henry, American Lit grad student having trouble getting her thesis finished, spending the summer living with her mother, apart from her husband, doing research for a schlocky bio on Jackie O. Josie is a fair bit more intellectual than most 30-or-so female central characters have been lately. She goes through a bit of a crisis in her marriage and winds up with a better understanding of herself, her mother and her relationship with her husband. As the story unfolds, we are treated to tidbits from Josie's Jackie research, that are both interesting on their own, and in the way they relate to what Josie's going through.

Preston's writing is strong, the characters are authentic and the story is a pleasure all the way through. It's also peaked my interest in reading more about Jackie and the Kennedys.

The story of your average intellect-woman-type, who may have more love and passion for literature than intellectual gifts . . . but isn't that what REALLY matters, and inevitably, is more intriguing? A wonderful play on relationships, and the different relationships one woman can have; as wife, daughter, mother, sister, friend and potential lover. Beautiful, thick prose. If you're from New England, you'll find yourself at home.

It's not highbrow, but it is fun. I read it on an airplane and then ignored my family once I got home so I could learn how things ended. Josie is funny--she's not a comic--but she is funny in the way most of us would be if others could hear what goes on inside our heads. Because not much is written from the point of view of young, well-educated, modern women, I particularly appreciated this book. I look forward to Ms. Preston's next book.

The perfect reading indulgence - good relationship issues, fun Jackie O. facts, and an ending that is not a cop out. Loved it for reading on the beach.

I'll have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in Jackie by Josie. I'd heard great things and picked it up in a Back Bay bookstore. While Preston's style is breezy and distracting, I hoped the Jackie-Josie parallels would be stronger and more funny. It's overstating it to call Preston a humorist...her story is mildly amusing. Many of the characters are certainly compelling, but Josie is not one of them. The writing is accomplished and I'll be looking for Preston's next effort, but this wasn't a favorite of mine.

I got on a train and couldn't put JACKIE BY JOSIE down. The wonderful book cover first drew me to the book and the description hauled me in. That I was travelling from Boston made me feel like a character in the story watching from the sidelines. This is because the writer writes in a breezy, fun, engaging way. When a mystery, drama or anything with long, awkward description WON'T do and you just want to get lost in a story, this book is enchanting and the one to reach for!