Publisher's Weekly Review
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.)
Kirkus Review
A follow-up to the bestselling Mrs. Kennedy and Me. Teaming up again with his co-author (now wife) on previous books, Hill, a distinguished former Secret Service agent, remembers his days traveling the world as Jacqueline Kennedy's trusted bodyguard. After John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Hill received a medal for valor in protecting the president and his wife, Jackie, from Lee Harvey Oswald's bullets. Later, the medal vanished along with photos of the author's travels with Mrs. Kennedy as a Secret Service bodyguard. Hill recounts how his search for an old award he never wanted yielded an even greater treasure: forgotten images of his globe-trotting adventures with the first lady. The photographs--some in color, some in black and white--immediately transported the bewitched author back to the glittering heyday of Camelot. Images of Jackie in Paris brought memories of the president's first major state excursion to France, in 1961, where the otherwise very private first lady was "the center of all attention." Numerous other diplomatic trips followed--to England, Greece, India, Pakistan, and across South America. Everything Jackie did, from visiting ruined temples to having lunch with Queen Elizabeth, was headline news. Hill dutifully protected her from gawkers and paparazzi not only on public occasions, but also more private ones such as family retreats to the Amalfi Coast and the Kennedys' country home in Middleburg, Virginia. In three short years, the never-romantic bond between the two deepened to a place "beyond friendship" in which "we could communicate with each other with a look or a nod….She knew that I would do whatever she asked--whether it was part of my job as a Secret Service agent or not." Replete with unseen private photos and anecdotes of a singular relationship, the book will appeal mostly to American historians but also anyone interested in the private world inhabited by one of the most beguiling but enigmatic first ladies in American history. A fond remembrance of a glamorous, bygone era. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Devotees of all things Kennedy may think they've seen every image of Jackie ever taken. They would be wrong. In his latest memoir of his time as her Secret Service agent, Hill (Mrs. Kennedy and Me, 2012), along with his coauthor and wife, offers his most intimate portrait of the iconic First Lady yet. Prepping for a house sale, Hill unearthed cartons and trunks brimming with Kennedy ephemera. Each uncovered diary, every unpacked sketchbook triggered poignant memories of his worldwide travels as one of Mrs. Kennedy's closest aides. Recollections of trips to destinations ranging from Paris to Pakistan, Mexico to Morocco are illuminated by more than two hundred rarely or never previously published photographs that reveal Jackie in moments of unbridled joy, contemplative serenity, refreshing candor, and quintessential ease. What emerges is a multidimensional depiction of an unusually deep relationship, one that, Hill acknowledges, never crossed the line into romance but that provided Jackie with comfort and security that went "beyond friendship." His goal is to show Jackie as she really was: "Fun-loving. Adventurous. Spontaneous. Down to earth and elegant at the same time." He succeeds. In this essential addition to the Kennedy canon, Hill's priceless anecdotes gently peel back the layers of privacy that time and circumstance so carefully put in place.
