It's 1953 on the Cote d'Azur. A beautiful blond 21-year-old Swedish aristocrat meets a charismatic, boyish American senator with what she calls a ''fascinating accent.'' They spend a romantic (and chaste) evening together, share a passionate kiss, and he professes his love. But, alas, the handsome prince is about to turn into a married man -- the very next week. So that's that. Or should have been. But the newly married, ambitious, increasingly famous senator writes ardently and phones often, declaring how much he needs ''my Swedish flicka'' and vowing they will meet again in Paris or the Riviera on his next trip through. So goes the story in ''Love, Jack,'' Gunilla von Post's memoir of her romance with John F. Kennedy. Two years after that memorable night (part of the delay was due to his back surgery and long hospitalization), Kennedy visited von Post in Sweden, where they spent an idyllic week in the country, and he charmed the socks off all of her family. As they parted, he told her he wanted her in his life and promised to ''talk to my father about us.'' Well, you know how that turned out. --New York Times. "Gunilla von Post has written an elegant and important book detailing her historic relationship with John F. Kennedy. Without rancor, sensationalism or shallow titillation, she has given us a calm and loving account of an important man at a critical time in his life. Where many others rush forward to cash in on their links to famous people, von Post has set down, with enormous dignity and compassion, the simple truth about an important episode in her youth. I salute her achievement. She has given us a good story, told gently and justly." -- Donald Spoto, author of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life. "Jack and I sat on the edge of the cliff, and for the first time that night we were quiet together. He turned and kissed me tenderly, and my breath was taken away. The brightness of the moon and stars made his eyes appear bluer than the ocean beneath us. He broke the silence by saying softly, 'I fell in love with you tonight.'" He was a dashing young senator pursued by an Italian contessa and the imposing forces of his destiny. She was a twenty-one-year-old Swedish aristocrat away from home for the first time. Their accidental meeting at a port in the Riviera changed both their lives forever. Spanning two continents and the Atlantic Ocean, unfolding over a six-year period starting in 1953, this is the story of a transcendent but heartbreaking love between two people at the peak of their youth and beauty, a love that seemed impossible but could not be denied. Here is an intimate portrait of John Kennedy never before seen: a gentle, kind, and caring man, intensely passionate and full of life-but a man who faces great difficulty adjusting to the demanding role history and his father have assigned him. Driven by his love for Gunilla von Post, Jack risked the sort of exposure that might have ruined his career, and he was willing to endure debilitating pain to cross the ocean for her. For the sake of her passion, Gunilla risked the ostracism of her family and friends, ready to turn her back on the country she loved. Here at last is the heartwarming account of a history-making romance, a "brief, shining moment" - before Camelot, before an assassin's bullets shattered the hopes of a nation - a moment in time that Gunilla von Post is now ready to share with the world.
Price history
Oct 25, 2021
€3.75