Rose: The Life and Times of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: Rose: The Life and Times of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Higham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A portrait of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy follows her modest origins in a mob-driven Boston ghetto, her relationship with Jackie, the births and deaths of her children, and her difficult relationships with her grandchildren. Reprint.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671890271
• ISBN-13: 978-0671890278
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,976,787 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MATRIARCH OF A DYNASTY, September 28, 2000

By	BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I thought this was an excellent biography of the Matriarch of an American Dynasty. Charles Higham has done a thorough job of researching Rose Kennedy, her forebears as well as those of Joe Kennedy, Sr. This book takes a daring peek behind the curtain of Rose's outward gentility; one is forced to confront the adulterous Joe through her eyes; one feels sympathy for Rose as she, by many accounts, those of her children included, becomes even more religious and reclusive.

One feels her anguish over Joe's decision to have poor Rosemary lobotomized without at least consulting her; one feels her anguish over the violent, devastating deaths of three of her four sons.

I liked the parts that detailed some of the interactions Rose had with her many grandchildren; I especially loved the parts about her son Robert, the then future Attorney General and Senator.

I found the dynamics of intrafamilial relationships quite interesting. In many accounts, the indomitable matriarch and Jack locked horns and had many personality clashes. In all accounts, she and RFK had a unique bond. The resemblance between Rose and Robert is quite strong; indeed, the matriarch left her stamp on this penultimate son who would later comfort her in her old age and invite her to accompany him on his 1964 senatorial campaign. This pair has been described as being extremely devout and loyal to their children; again, this similarity is emphasized in the bonds the future Attorney General had with his own children.

I felt this was a very well researched and well written biography. For anyone who is seriously interested in Rose Kennedy, I would recommend this book highly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Real Truth or Not, March 11, 2005

By	P. Rogers "avid reader" (missouri) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Okay-which is it? Was Joe Sr. like this book says or not? There are too many contradictions out there that portray him as NOT the nicest guy and his politics on the communism/anti-semetic side. I'm just looking for the real truth and I feel this author goes way!!!! overboard trying to excuse everything Joe Sr. and Rose kennedy ever did that was questionable. Like how everyone makes her out to be the quintessential mother-well that's easy to do when you're always traveling without the kids, shipping them all over the world to boarding school and have no less than 3-5 nannies etc.This author whitewashes the major negatives about Joe and Rose Kennedy to a fault.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and Scholarly, July 25, 2003

By	HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

ROSE is the definitive biography of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, matriarch of America's dynastic Kennedy family. Author Charles Higham reveals that, despite being a young woman born during the Victorian era and raised in convents, Rose Kennedy had a sprightly, independent mind and an educated outlook on life--even though her father denied her the formal college experience she greatly had wanted. Still, Rose was not, as many imagine, a subservient wife hovering timidly in the background.

Author Higham has done excellent and thorough research, both on the families of Rose and her husband Joseph, and on the evolution of the strong and independent woman that Rose became. Higham examines several episodes in the history of the family that usually are brushed under the proverbial rug, especially regarding the lobotomy of daughter Rosemary (ordered by Joe without Rose's knowledge) and the way in which Rose dealt with her knowledge of Joe's blatant infidelities.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy turns out to have been a fascinating woman in her own right, and ROSE is her story.