Leaders & Notable People
![Kate Storey - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0BJ7Q5ZW5.jpg)
White House by the Sea: A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port
* #1 Must-Read Book of the Summer by Town & Country * Most Anticipated Book of the Summer by Elle *
The intimate, multigenerational story of the Kennedy family as seen through their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Cod-the iconic place where they've celebrated, mourned, and forged the closest of bonds-based on more than a hundred in-depth interviews by a Rolling Stone editor whose pieces have appeared in such publications as Town & Country, Esquire, and Vanity Fair.
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America's most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and, also, grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husband's assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knot-and even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift. Anyone who has lived in, worked at, or visited the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port has had a front-row view to history. Now, with extraordinary access to the Kennedy family-and featuring more than fifty rarely-seen images-journalist Kate Storey gives us a remarkably intimate and poignant look at the rhythms of an American dynasty.
Drawing from more than a hundred conversations with family members, friends, neighbors, household and security staff, Storey delivers a rich and textured account of the Kennedys' lives in their summer refuge. From the 1920s, when Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy rented then bought a home known as The Malcolm Cottage, to today, when many Kennedys have purchased their own homes surrounding what's now called The Big House, this book delivers many surprising revelations across the decades, including what matriarch Rose considered the family's greatest tragedy, the rivalrous relationship between brothers Jack and Joe, details about Jackie's life at the compound, and previously unknown glimpses into JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's loving and ill-fated relationship.
Fascinating, engaging, and illuminating, White House by the Sea provides a sweeping history of an American dynasty that has left an indelible mark on our nation's politics and culture.
The intimate, multigenerational story of the Kennedy family as seen through their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Cod-the iconic place where they've celebrated, mourned, and forged the closest of bonds-based on more than a hundred in-depth interviews by a Rolling Stone editor whose pieces have appeared in such publications as Town & Country, Esquire, and Vanity Fair.
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America's most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and, also, grieve. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK giving his presidential acceptance speech, Jackie speaking with a Life magazine reporter just days after her husband's assassination, Senator Edward Kennedy seeking refuge after the Chappaquiddick crash, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger tying the knot-and even Conor Kennedy courting pop star Taylor Swift. Anyone who has lived in, worked at, or visited the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port has had a front-row view to history. Now, with extraordinary access to the Kennedy family-and featuring more than fifty rarely-seen images-journalist Kate Storey gives us a remarkably intimate and poignant look at the rhythms of an American dynasty.
Drawing from more than a hundred conversations with family members, friends, neighbors, household and security staff, Storey delivers a rich and textured account of the Kennedys' lives in their summer refuge. From the 1920s, when Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy rented then bought a home known as The Malcolm Cottage, to today, when many Kennedys have purchased their own homes surrounding what's now called The Big House, this book delivers many surprising revelations across the decades, including what matriarch Rose considered the family's greatest tragedy, the rivalrous relationship between brothers Jack and Joe, details about Jackie's life at the compound, and previously unknown glimpses into JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's loving and ill-fated relationship.
Fascinating, engaging, and illuminating, White House by the Sea provides a sweeping history of an American dynasty that has left an indelible mark on our nation's politics and culture.
Editorial Reviews
#1 Must-Read Book of the Summer by Town & Country
Most Anticipated Book of the Summer by Elle
"A well-paced history...Storey has shaken a lot of archival trees and has embedded herself within the surviving Kennedy family...A revealing record."
-New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating narrative...with new details and well-sourced reporting. Storey's research gives the book a more intimate feel than many other histories of the Kennedy family."
-Associated Press
"Journalist Kate Storey turns her sights to Cape Cod in this revealing portrait of the Kennedy family's iconic Hyannis Port home, and the stories its walls have contained over the decades. Constructed from more than a hundred intimate interviews and dozens of photos, White House by the Sea is a thorough, absorbing volume of love, fame and that most complicated of American families."
-Elle magazine
"[A] thoughtful and astute history. Storey has found a genuinely fresh historical angle. With an abundance of anecdotes...a bittersweet nostalgia moves through some of the chapters like a light mist off Nantucket Sound."
-WBUR
"A treasure trove of interesting, amusing, and poignant stories and anecdotes of the dynamic, tightknit, and consequential clan…Appropriately enough, the book makes for great beach reading, as breezy as the summer air off Nantucket Sound."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Engaging and factual, capturing personal nuances and relaying intimate anecdotes that often stand in contrast to predominant, media-created perceptions...Readers will come away with new insights and due appreciation for this uniquely American dynasty."
-Booklist (starred review)
"An immersive behind-the-scenes history…Full of vivid profiles and intriguing asides about the history of Cape Cod, this is a compassionate portrait of America's most famous political dynasty."
-Publishers Weekly
Most Anticipated Book of the Summer by Elle
"A well-paced history...Storey has shaken a lot of archival trees and has embedded herself within the surviving Kennedy family...A revealing record."
-New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating narrative...with new details and well-sourced reporting. Storey's research gives the book a more intimate feel than many other histories of the Kennedy family."
-Associated Press
"Journalist Kate Storey turns her sights to Cape Cod in this revealing portrait of the Kennedy family's iconic Hyannis Port home, and the stories its walls have contained over the decades. Constructed from more than a hundred intimate interviews and dozens of photos, White House by the Sea is a thorough, absorbing volume of love, fame and that most complicated of American families."
-Elle magazine
"[A] thoughtful and astute history. Storey has found a genuinely fresh historical angle. With an abundance of anecdotes...a bittersweet nostalgia moves through some of the chapters like a light mist off Nantucket Sound."
-WBUR
"A treasure trove of interesting, amusing, and poignant stories and anecdotes of the dynamic, tightknit, and consequential clan…Appropriately enough, the book makes for great beach reading, as breezy as the summer air off Nantucket Sound."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Engaging and factual, capturing personal nuances and relaying intimate anecdotes that often stand in contrast to predominant, media-created perceptions...Readers will come away with new insights and due appreciation for this uniquely American dynasty."
-Booklist (starred review)
"An immersive behind-the-scenes history…Full of vivid profiles and intriguing asides about the history of Cape Cod, this is a compassionate portrait of America's most famous political dynasty."
-Publishers Weekly
Readers Top Reviews
carilynpTara Jenkins
If you’re like me and love a deep dive into the Kennedys and want to learn more about their days spent in Hyannis Port, this book is all that and more. A spectacular look at not only the Compound, as it came to be known, summers spent there enjoying day after day of sailing on the blue waters of Nantucket Sound, plenty of children and adults playing football on the field in front of the Big House, lobster dinners and cocktails on the wraparound porch, as well as some you might be less familiar with including where the family came for respite after one casualty after the next, where Rose sought solitude by attending daily Mass, where Kennedys gathered when RFK was shot and Teddy drew his last breath, where John Jr and Carolyn were headed to meet friends and family before their fatal plane crash, and stories about the town itself. Storey’s well-researched book, which includes interviews with family, friends, locals, and numerous authors, sheds light dating back to the 1920s of our country’s once most powerful political family and what drew them to Hyannis, or the Port, as they called it. It began when Joe Sr. rented and then bought a cottage where he raised his growing young family. Here they spent not just summers, but lingered into months following, hosting gatherings such as their annual Thanksgiving party, teas for Jack’s presidential campaign, his acceptance speech, weddings, funerals for their beloved children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, many lost too soon. What grabbed me most was Rose’s tenaciousness, whose staunch ideals were powerful enough to welcome everyone from dignitaries to repairmen into their home, doing their best to blend in with the community. However, not everyone saw it this way, much to the chagrin of some neighbors and year-rounders who enjoyed the quiet, small-town life, didn’t like the ever-increasing number of tourists who encroached on their grounds. For the most part, the second generation of Kennedys loved the waterfront property they grew up knowing so well, thanks to their father Joe, who instilled tradition, each eventually buying their own home nearby so they could perpetuate the fun, competition, and importance of being together with family, unaware of the sadness that lurked ahead. As more tragedies beset the third generation and they became fodder for the news, there were times the Kennedys stayed away from the Port and houses sat empty, their shingles weathering from time, just as their occupants were doing, waiting to pass the baton to another generation. Yet the Kennedy mystique would always remain and to this day, it is synonymous with Hyannis. The history, charm, and intimate details of Cape Cod come shining through in this book. There is something for history buffs, JFK devotees, and more.
Sandra Goroff-mailly
A sweeping overview of the Kennedy compound in HyannisPort- the lives the times,, the unbearable losses and its incredible history nationally and on Cape Cod- The house, the family, their love of the sea. Having finished it one day, i feel totally immersed in the people and their times. Poignant and Empathetic.
muriel watt
Despite growing up feeling like I knew everything about the Kennedys, could there be any new stories to learn? Turns out there are! I loved feeling like I was inside the rooms of their homes and sitting on the porch watching their lives unfold. Rose Kennedy the matriarch who survived despite her tragic golden life is the stand out.
Mikey
A very interesting, and new angle on the history of the Kennedy family. While a nonfiction book, it reads much more as a narrative of the family’s time spent in Hyannis Port. Intimate stories shared by the people who experienced them first-hand are woven together beautifully, giving you a glimpse of the triumphs and struggles the Kennedys faced over the years.
Jeffrey Fisher
A beautifully written and extensively researched fresh take on the family. I’m not usually a big history reader but the unique stories and characters in this one really came to life and created a unique sense of place and time for me. A very interesting book that is clearly backed by very in-depth research but also reads like a fiction novel. Loved it!
