What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love [Paperback]

Carole Radziwill (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 5, 2007

What Remains is a vivid and haunting memoir about a girl from a working-class town who becomes an award-winning television producer and marries a prince, Anthony Radziwill. Carole grew up in a small suburb with a large, eccentric cast of characters. At nineteen, she struck out for New York City to find a different life. Her career at ABC News led her to the refugee camps of Cambodia, to a bunker in Tel Aviv, and to the scene of the Menendez murders. Her marriage led her into the old world of European nobility and the newer world of American aristocracy.

What Remains begins with loss and returns to loss. A small plane plunges into the ocean carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., Anthony's cousin, and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Carole's closest friend. Three weeks later Anthony dies of cancer. With unflinching honesty and a journalist's keen eye, Carole Radziwill explores the enduring ties of family, the complexities of marriage, the importance of friendship, and the challenges of self-invention. Beautifully written, What Remains "gets at the essence of what matters," wrote Oprah Winfrey. "Friendship, compassion, destiny."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Here's a very sad story: a middle-class girl is working as a reporter at ABC, where she meets a handsome man from a famous family. They court, marry and become best friends with the husband's first cousin and his new wife. Abruptly, the reporter's husband is diagnosed with cancer. He dies, but not before the cousin and his wife (and her sister) die, too, in a senseless plane crash. This would be a heartbreaking story even if it weren't about Anthony Radziwill, nephew of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and about his and Carole's friendship with John and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. But because its publisher (and, presumably, the author) have decided not to market it as a "Kennedy book" but "a memoir of fate, friendship and love," it begs consideration on its literary merits. So here goes: Radziwill is a serviceable, if sentimental, writer. She is brave, especially when she describes how cancer became the third party in her marriage, and how she briefly flirted with infidelity. She also knows how to convey the essence of a person with small scenes and quotes (JFK Jr. holding his dying friend's hand and softly singing a song from their childhood; director Mike Nichols not calling but just coming to the hospital and handing out sandwiches to the nurses). Still, perhaps in Radziwill's effort to further the myth of its non-Kennedyness, much of this already short book feels padded—with scenes from the author's childhood and medical details about Anthony's treatment. Otherwise, much of Radziwill's writing approaches melodrama, particularly when she recounts that July 1999 night when the plane crashed. At one point, Radziwill scoffs at the "tragedy whores" who luxuriate in Kennedy trauma, and yet she seems to have been unable to resist contributing some crumbs to their feeding frenzy.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A riveting and heartbreaking journey beyond the fairy tale, told with...the searing eloquence of a gifted writer."

-- Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle

"A small masterpiece...devastating and beautifully written."

-- New York Post

"Carole Radziwill has written an unsparing, unsentimental, and inspiring memoir. A spirited journalist with a novelist's eye for detail, she delivers a stunningly honest story about life's great joys and deepest pain."

-- Christiane Amanpour, CNN chief international correspondent

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074327718X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743277181
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (441 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Journalists
  • #89 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Rich & Famous

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

220 of 230 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing November 16, 2005

By Nancy Siefken

Format:Hardcover

I bought this book in an airport because of the cover. The cover photo is one I have in my bedroom. I was in a huge hurry to get a book for the plane ride and I didn't notice the author's name particularly.

I read the entire book on that plane ride and it was an out of body experience for me because I have just recently finished helping my sister die. The book reviewer who treated it as though it were a "Kennedy" book disguised as a memoir and alluded that she was somehow capitalizing on a famous name to sell a book obviously isn't in this club that I now live in. Grief is a horrific world. It's the story of your life and I think she had to tell it to survive.

First of all, it's well written (no joke, the woman is a journalist---they practice the craft daily). This reviewer claims the book is "padded" with her childhood experiences. Excuse me, it's a memoir ! ! ! Childhood MEMORIES are not padding in a MEMOIR. The fact that her marriage -- to a person who is happens to be the maternal cousin of John Kennedy---dominates the book is because that was the biggest "story" in her life. So, naturally, a good writer of a MEMOIR will emphasize the biggest story of their life. And, it's not the biggest story of her life because he had a famous name. It's the biggest story of her life because her husband was handed a death sentence and she had to help him live knowing he was going to die.

This is NOT a "Kennedy" book (didn't know that was a category), it's a memoir that does a most excellent job of describing being in the inner circle of a young person who has been handed a death sentence. I know because I have lived it.

For this author it was her husband. For me, it was my younger sister who got her death sentence at 36.... She was single and I "picked my role in the beginning" (a line from the book), I was going to manage it and fix it. Big sister that likes to research and take notes.

This book was a tremendous help to me as I was able to recognize some things and understand some of the things that happened to me. Helping someone die is an honor and it is a trauma and it was the biggest thing that has ever happened to me. My life will be forever defined by it and if I ever have occasion to write a memoir that experience would overshadow marriage, childbirth, career (or being married to someone famous which I'm not and won't but you get my point).

The fact that she was introduced to grief a few weeks before her husband dies (when she loses her best friend Carolyn Bissette Kennedy) is an unfathomable concept to me. I don't know how she survived that.

At any rate, those who are fascinated by the Kennedys will like it because you certainly get a great feel for John and Carolyn. I cried thoughout all Carolyn stories because she sounds so much like my sister who also had a "secret agent voice" calling me all the time "don't tell Mom and Dad, but I'm back in the country..."

My sister was also 5'11, but was referred to as a "six foot blonde". Charming and loving and fluttery long hands...

Anyone who reads this will adore Carolyn Bissette Kennedy.

But what I can't forgive the reviewer for is this bizarre reference to the cancer stuff (you know the pesky medical details that got in the way of voyuering on Kennedys) PLEASE.

I promise if I ever write a memoir there will be bone scan results verbatim.

In one passage the author describes the emotion she feels when a moron who doesn't notice they need assistance, hands her the hotel key and gives her directions to her room down a long, long hallway. Her husband is standing there and that long walk is going to be very painful, but he looks at her with that look that silently pleads for you not to embarrass him. "Don't make a scene, don't demand a closer room or a wheelchair".

You see, her husband was young and handsome and never got comfortable with being old and dying. Similarly, my sister was young and beautiful. She was used to stopping traffic, she certainly didn't like dying.

The author later talks about her resuce fantasies where she goes back and rescues him from that hallway walk that they took.

I have a rescue fantasy about a tarmac in Atlanta and I could see the wheelchairs parked way over by the terminal. It had taken her so long to descend the stairs to the tarmac and she knew I was loaded for bear and ready to bark orders and have someone trot one over to us. Her eyes said "don't do it"...I wish I could go back in time and rescue her from that long walk to the terminal.

So, obviously I identified with the book, but you don't have to have lived that to love this book. It's not a "Kennedy" book and it's not a "cancer" book. If anything it's a "grief" book or a "fate" book. Oh wait a minute, the author put it on the cover. It's a book about fate, friendship and love. Read more ›

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous writing, heartbreaking story September 27, 2005

By Pamela Keogh

Format:Hardcover

I live in NYC and bought (and read) this book the first day it came out. Of course, anyone with access to People magazine knows the rough outline of Ms. Radziwill's story, but what she does -- through her evocative memories -- is share a privileged glimpse of a couragous and ultimately sorrowful story. While it is said that some of the Kennedys are unhappy with her memoir, I completely disagree -- Ms. Radziwill's story of her love for her husband and the life they shared, and her friends John and Carolyn Kennedy, is her own. Because if one does not own their own story, what do they have?

Having said that, I am in awe of Ms. Radziwill's strength, and her courage. "What Remains" is a remarkable story of love and loss in the face of a world that will sometimes break your heart.

Finally, Ms. Radziwill is a hell of a writer. This book will be a classic. I hope she continues -- if I could, I would give the book ten stars.

64 of 75 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Amazing writer, lackluster subject matter October 6, 2005

By L. Wheeler

Format:Hardcover

I bought and read this book because it was on many "must read" lists and Carole received an abundance of praise for her style. Her writing is lyrical and her style unique. However, as she openly admits, the book was therapy for her. But one woman's literary therapy does not necessarily tranlate into interesting subject matter for the reader. Personally, I found the endless (or what seemed like endless) chapters on her late husband's surgeries, tiresome to read about. Her subtle (or not so subtle) attacks on Caroline Kennedy seem somewhat out of place and catty, especially given the reflective tone of the book. For example, one gets the distinct notion from reading the book that Caroline did not care for either Carole or Carolyn Bessette-that she did not approve of her brother's marriage. Carole may want us to believe it is pure blue blood snobbery that got in the way of any impending friendship between the three. Yet, as she goes on to describe their habits and behaviors- purchasing Cartier toe rings for example, one cant help but understand why a woman like Caroline Kennedy, might have disdain for her sister/cousin in-laws. Lastly, I guess I was hoping for a love story and quite frankly, I found that there was more chemistry depicted between Carolyn Bessette and Carole Radziwill than between Carole and her late husband. The book left me unsettled in that regard. Is the author grieving her loss of a soulmate or her loss of a lifestyle? These are the question I was left with as I finished the book.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Stark, Simple and Devastating March 12, 2006

By Wendy Kaplan

Format:Hardcover

Having watched a loved one die slowly of cancer, I had a visceral reaction to this terribly sad story of a young woman who meets the man of her dreams, through him meets the female friend of her heart, and does NOT live happily ever after. Because on the last day of their romantic honeymoon, the happy young couple finds a small lump on his abdomen...

I applaud the fact that the "Kennedy-ness" of this story takes a back seat. The young woman, Carole DeFalco, meets and marries Anthony Radziwill, son of Jacqueline Kennedy's sister Lee. And the friends of their heart are John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn. Is it really that important? These are people, with real feelings and real tragedies that no amount of fame and money can stop.

Unlike some other reviewers, I found Carole's description of her decidedly middle-class upbringing engaging, funny, and interesting. Yes, I got the point--she was not raised with a silver spoon in her mouth--but it did not offend me, rather it delighted me.

What really drew me in, though, was her unblinkingly honest tale of what it really feels like to have a loved one slowly eaten away by this vicious disease. You want to run; so did she. You nastily wish the sick person would just get it over with and die; so did she. You are in the depths of despair so deep that you don't even recognize your own depression; so was she. You feel overwhelming guilt for having any feelings of your own; so did she. You fight to be able to control the uncontrollable; so did she.

But right beside her, offering unconditional love, support, humor, fun, and above all, life, was her dear friend Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her irrascible husband John, who was raised with Anthony and considered him a brother.... Just when Anthony is in his last horrible days of his disease, Carolyn and John are killed in that fateful plane crash. We get a behind-the-scenes view of the frantic phone calls, denial, anguish, and finally acceptance by their loved ones, including Carole, who, staying at the Kennedys' Martha's Vineyard house with her moribund husband, was the first to get the news that the plane was missing, and the first to make the horrible phone calls she had to make.

I found this book extremely powerful, well-written and moving, and well worth the read. And I applaud the bravery in writing it. Read more ›