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`What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love' is an
autobiography which chronicles of life of author Carole DiFalco Radziwill.
In this book, she tells a story revolving around three key things: the
impact of friendship, family customs and values, and lastly the
perplexities of wedlock.
Carole DiFalco grew up in the suburbs of
Suffern, New York where she lived with a multitude of relatives, including
her grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Upon turning 19 years old, she moved
to New York City, where she obtained a job as an ABC news reporter. As a
reporter, DiFalco was able to take advantage of the opportunity to travel
around the world. As a result, she would get assignments that would allow
her to explore the shelters of the war-fleeing Cambodians and visit Tel
Aviv. Eventually, her exceptional employment with ABC would lead her to a
promotion equating her to the status of television producer. Not long
afterwards, she met a Polish prince named Anthony Radziwill, who also
happened to be a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, and falling for each
other, these two decided to get married, thus resulting in yet another
community status upgrade for Carole DiFalco Radziwill.
Throughout the course of their marriage, Carole and Anthony spent much
of their time fighting a metastasized cancer for which Anthony was
diagnosed. Then one summer day in July, just three weeks before the
disease led to Anthony's passing, a plane crashed into the ocean killing
John F. Kennedy Jr. (cousin of Anthony) and his wife, Carolyn Bessette,
both of them friends of Carole.
In conclusion, `What Remains: A Memoir of Fate,
Friendship, and Love' is an unforgettable autobiography about a woman's
struggle to recuperate from an overpowering loss. It is replete with vivid
descriptions of her childhood and rich details about the events that took
place in the attempts to treat Anthony's cancer. In short, this is a book
which should be missed by anyone interested in the life of Carole DiFalco
Radziwill or a reporter/producer's perspective on loss, love, and
buoyancy.
Book
review
Here's a very sad story: a middle-class girl
is working as a reporter at ABC, where she meets a handsome man from a
famous family. They court, marry and become best friends with the
husband's first cousin and his new wife. Abruptly, the reporter's husband
is diagnosed with cancer. He dies, but not before the cousin and his wife
(and her sister) die, too, in a senseless plane crash.
This would be a heartbreaking story even if it weren't about Anthony
Radziwill, nephew of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and about his and Carole's
friendship with John and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. But because its
publisher (and, presumably, the author) have decided not to market it as a
"Kennedy book" but "a memoir of fate, friendship and love," it begs
consideration on its literary merits. So here goes: Radziwill is a
serviceable, if sentimental, writer. She is brave, especially when she
describes how cancer became the third party in her marriage, and how she
briefly flirted with infidelity. She also knows how to convey the essence
of a person with small scenes and quotes (JFK Jr. holding his dying
friend's hand and softly singing a song from their childhood; director
Mike Nichols not calling but just coming to the hospital and handing out
sandwiches to the nurses).
Still, perhaps in Radziwill's effort to further the myth of its
non-Kennedyness, much of this already short book feels padded—with scenes
from the author's childhood and medical details about Anthony's treatment.
Otherwise, much of Radziwill's writing approaches melodrama, particularly
when she recounts that July 1999 night when the plane crashed. At one
point, Radziwill scoffs at the "tragedy whores" who luxuriate in Kennedy
trauma, and yet she seems to have been unable to resist contributing some
crumbs to their feeding frenzy. (Sept. 27)Correction: The coauthor of How
to Cook Your Daughter, with Jessica Hendra (Reviews, Aug. 29), was
misidentified. Blake Morrison is an American journalist for USA
Today. |
