Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy Hardcover – October 13, 2026

A vivid, intimate biography of American icon Ethel Kennedy by her daughter Kerry Kennedy, told through her firsthand memories and exclusive access to Ethel’s personal papersWhen her husband Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968, Ethel Skakel Kennedy—then pregnant with their eleventh child—drew national attention for her grace, dignity, and resolute commitment to furthering his work in human rights, even in her grief. But as her daughter Kerry witnessed, Ethel was so much more than a dutiful wife and keeper of Robert's legacy of service. She was courageous, curious, compassionate, boisterous, and witty, always guided by faith and an instinct for speaking truth to power.Kerry delves into her own memories, her family's recollections, and her mother's private papers, describing:Ethel's family's journey from a working-class Chicago background to life in tony Greenwich, ConnecticutEthel's fairytale romance with Kerry's father RFK—a courtship that inspired a Taylor Swift song half a century laterHow the bold, athletic Ethel quickly became "more Kennedy than the Kennedys"The years on the famed family properties in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and the Hickory Hill estate in Virginia, where Kerry and her ten siblings grew up amidst presidents and politicians, Olympians and Hollywood stars, and a rambunctious menagerie of pet animalsMoments of pain and loss—RFK’s death just five years after that of his brother; and the tragic deaths of two of Kerry’s siblingsEthel’s unflagging commitment to global human rights causes that carried on through the decadesEthel Kennedy inspires us to reject cynicism and to live bigger and bolder.The book includes 24 pages of color photographs. Read more