When We Were the Kennedys by Monica Wood

1963 Mexico, Maine: The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on the fathers' wages from the Oxford Paper Company. Until the sudden death of Dad, when Mum and the four deeply connected Wood girls are set adrift. Funny and to-the-bone moving, When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how this family saves itself, at first by depending on Father Bob, Mum's youngest brother, a charismatic Catholic priest who feels his new responsibilities deeply. And then, as the nation is shocked by the loss of its handsome Catholic president, the televised grace of Jackie Kennedy--she too a Catholic widow with young children--galvanizes Mum to set off on an unprecedented family road trip to Washington, D.C,. to do some rescuing of her own. An indelible story of how family and nation, each shocked by the unimaginable, exchange one identity for another.

"Monica Wood has written a gorgeous, gripping memoir. I don't know that
I've ever pulled so hard for a family."--Michael Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert

• Category

  Education

[Jim Burke]

Monica Wood masterfully captures this community that I grew up in. I also highly recommend an earlier book, Ernie's Ark, also by Wood.

[JoanieMexico]

I love this book and think that Monica did a wonderful job showing the heart and soul of her nine-year old self as she tried to understand the people and world around her. I also think she did a great job in this video and I enjoyed seeing the old family photos that are included in the video.

[James Tierney]

This is a beautifully written book that not only captures the poignancy of daily life in a Catholic, union, manufacturing town at a precise moment in history, but also contains themes that are highly relevant to our current national discourse.  I urge everyone to read it.

[Paul Gibson]

Don't buy her book it sucks and so do the kennedys!