My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy

Husband-and-wife coauthors Clint and Lisa McCubbin Hill (Mrs. Kennedy and Me) deliver an immersive behind-the-scenes account of life in the Kennedy White House. Inspired by their recent rediscovery of a steamer trunk full of mementos, the authors recount how Clint Hill was assigned to be Jackie Kennedy’s personal Secret Service agent after a stint with President Eisenhower. Though the reassignment initially felt like “being moved from the starting lineup to the bench,” Hill soon discovered that the young, stylish, and multilingual first lady was unlike her predecessors. He describes how Jackie (an “elegant” yet “down to earth” woman with “a sense of adventure”) conversed easily with heads of state on visits to India, Pakistan, Latin America, and Europe, and even negotiated with France’s minister of culture for the Mona Lisa’s first U.S. tour. Hill also spent holidays with the first lady, and shares reminisces and photographs of summers in Hyannis Port, weekends in Virginia, and a getaway to Ravello, Italy. On a more somber note, Hill documents the family’s distress and his own lingering trauma after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Packed with rare images and fond reminiscences, this is a page-turning portrait of the Camelot era. Photos. Agent: Keith Urbahn and Matt Latimer, Javelin Literary. (Oct.)