What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love

by Carole Radziwill

Book Overview

A stunning, tragic memoir about John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette, and his cousin Anthony Radziwill, by Radziwill's widow.

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074327718X
• ISBN13: 9780743277181
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A heartbreaking memoir

Carole is able to make the audience laugh, then cry... multiple times. A memoir in which she recounts losing everything - her husband, her best friend, herself - but also give us hope for a better tomorrow.

Stunning.

Carole has a fantastic writing style that captures the kind of inner struggle that only comes with existential life crises that rarely can be recalled or revisited after time has tempered the wounds. I am grateful for the sharing of all of it and the reference to Fortune - so sweet and so bitter. Hi

Amazing

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"

A MUST READ

This book was one of the best I have ever read. The aspect that is most compelling is the way Carole shows the importance of friendship. Anthony Radziwill, (JFK Jr.'s cousin) and his close relationship with John Jr. carried him through the toughest of times in his battle with cancer. John affectionately referred to Anthony as "TonyPro," and just when everyone, including the reader thinks Anthony will die, John takes him to a sacred time and place by humming a song that Jackie O. sang to them as children. Anthony, barely concious, hums the tune back with a faint smile. We know he will live a little bit longer. However, the friendship that is most touching is that of Carole Radziwill (Anthony's wife and author of this book) and Carolyn Bisette Kennedy. What the public never saw about Carolyn was that she is the friend everyone longs to have. She is fun, thoughtful, reliable, and hysterically funny. She calls Carole "lamb" and rubs Anthony's feet when he is lying in the hospital with cancer. Carolyn gives away her possesions because she thinks they will look good on her friends. She says funny things like "Lamb you must get rid of those tapered jeans, or I'll have to ban you from the house! " Carolyn makes everything fun, including taking a trip to get tulips and eating spaghetti-O's right out of the can. Through Carole and Anthony's denial that he will die, Carolyn is the only one who notices exactly what Carole is going through. She is a devoted friend and she steps in to help Carole when she is needs it most. When Carolyn was alive, she was portrayed poorly in the media because she did not like the publicity that marrying the man she loved brought to her life. This book shows the person that Carolyn really was, and it made me cry because she was lost too soon. I admire Carole Radziwill for everything she endured. She is a beautiful person and author. I hope she has found comfort and is able to move on now that she has captured the part of her life she holds sacred so wonderfully. Carole wrote this book because she was worried that some of the memories were starting to fade. Now she can never forget the details and moments that were the best of her life. If you value friendships, then this book will show how to value them even more. "What Remains" will also teach you through tradgedy that life really does happen in the moments and details that happen quickly, but mean so much.

This is an intelligent read

If you're a thinker and like to be pulled into a story, particularly a true one, this is really worth the time. The author doesn't just tell the typical chronological account of her life (which can be so boring - I started out a baby, blah, blah, blah) but rather embeds glances back in time at appropriate points to describe the rich tapestry that is her life. She uses amusing anecdotes and personal accounts of day to day life with JFK Jr, his wife Carolyn and her husband Anthony to allow you to relate to them in a way that "tell all" books (which are usually half BS anyway) don't. A very interesting view I've never seen in other accounts. The thing I found most amazing is - when I bought the book, I thought I was going to read a story about a blue collar girl who gets all sorts of doors open for her by marrying into this famous family. Instead I was stunned by her accomplishments before she even met her husband. She put herself through college, started as an unpaid intern at ABC - became essentially a secretary and worked her way up to an Emmy award winning producer! She traveled alone to Cambodia in her 20's to interview the Khmer Rouge! Courage doesn't even come close to describing this. A very pleasant surprise in the book, and one that certainly made me respect the rest of what she was saying. Her accomplishments are uplifting and give credibility to her writing. But at the end of the day this book is about the impact of death - anticipated death and sudden death. And I know how that feels. My father was about to die after a long illness and while certainly different than what happened to the author, I thought I had a support system in my healthy mother who I thought would live on. She went into a coma suddenly 1 week before my father died and she too died shortly thereafter. This is the first time that I have read a book that even comes close to describing the feelings and impact of dealing with long term illness (denial, guilt and much more) and the effect of losing the support system you thought you would have left. She absolutely hits the nail on the head. We all have to deal with love, loss and what remains at some time in our lives. This book gives insight into that and it will make you appreciate whatever you have all the more.

A great read....

What Remains after the core of your life is lost? What Remains after fate takes two of your closest friends in a freak accident and your husband dies of cancer all in one month? What Remains is, as always, the living - in this case Carole Radziwill. And the memories. This is a story within a story. Set in the very public and prominent Kennedy clan's world, it is an honest view of globally recognizable figures - John Jr. and his wife Carolyn - and Carole's husband, Anthony - John's first cousin. There is no "dirt" here, rather a testament to their genuiness and compassion. You will connect with them in a real way, as real people, seeing them through the eyes of a friend - not with rose colored glasses either, but with clear glimpses into very personal moments only accessible to one so close, and those glimpses are very telling. And yet, this is much more so a story of courage and the strength of the human spirit - the ability to realize a dream and the will to go on when one's world crumbles. It is a tale of one woman's hard work, risk, accomplishment and the consuming impact of terminal illness. A tale of improbable love and kinship, and the vagaries of fate - or chance. It is a Cinderella story with a very hard dose of reality thrown in - a bittersweet roller coaster ride. One that, regardless of setting and characters, would be both sad and inspiring - a valuable and rewarding read. While reading the book, I saw Ms. Radziwill on Oprah being interviewed. She was asked a question about John and Carolyn Kennedy's marriage - it lead to whether they had sought marriage counseling. As with the entire story her answer was honest - she said they had - but insightful - she commented that sometimes people confuse `fact' with truth. She expounded - the fact was they had, but the truth was they loved each other and were working to strengthen their marriage. The fact is Ms. Radziwill is a gifted, brutally honest and self-aware writer; the truth is she is what we all hope we would be both in realizing our potential and in confronting some of the most difficult losses imaginable. Her ordinary beginnings make you believe you just might be so. Man or woman - I highly recommend this book.

Gorgeous writing, heartbreaking story

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.