"I want to introduce readers to the fearless, funny and deeply compassionate Ethel Kennedy that few people knew,” Kerry says of the book, out this fall
Credit: Rory Kennedy; HarperOne
NEED TO KNOW
- PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy, a new biography written by her daughter, Kerry Kennedy
- The book covers Ethel’s life, career and romance with former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
- “I want to celebrate my mother’s wit, creativity and the abiding faith that helped her raise 11 children in the face of devastating loss,” Kerry said of the book
Kerry Kennedy is honoring her mother, Ethel Kennedy, in a new biography.
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the cover of Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy, a new biography of the advocate written by Kerry, 66. The book is out this fall from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Per its synopsis, the biography presents a “vivid, intimate” portrait of Ethel, who died in 2024 at age 96 from complications related to a stroke.
Credit: HarperOne
Pulling from Kerry’s own memories, family recollections and Ethel’s personal papers, the book recounts Ethel’s working class upbringing in Chicago and her life in Greenwich, Conn., along with her "fairytale" romance with her husband, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who she met in 1945.
Kerry additionally recounts growing up on the family’s legendary properties in Hyannis Port, Mass. and the Hickory Hill estate in McLean, Va. alongside her 10 siblings, and amongst a rotating array of politicians, Olympians and Hollywood celebrities.
But the book also touches upon the Kennedy family’s heartbreaking losses — namely, RFK’s 1968 assassination, just five years after the killing of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, and the deaths of two of Kerry’s siblings.
“My mother was famous for being the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, but she was so much more,” Kerry says in an exclusive statement shared with PEOPLE. “With this book, I want to introduce readers to the fearless, funny and deeply compassionate Ethel Kennedy that few people knew.”
Credit: Rory Kennedy
Kerry writes of her mother’s global human rights advocacy and her commitment to preserving her late husband's memory. But the author hopes to highlight another side of her mother in the book, too.
“Through stories from inside the family and excerpts of her unpublished writing, I want to celebrate my mother's wit, creativity and the abiding faith that helped her raise 11 children in the face of devastating loss,” Kerry continues. “I hope [the book] captures, as my mother put it, ‘the fun, the laughter, the good times that got us through the bad ones,” and the boundless love that is her legacy."
Kerry previously published a 2018 book about her father, Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope. She is also the author of books including Being Catholic Now and Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World.
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Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy will be published on Oct. 13 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.
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