The Secret Letters: of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy

I have never felt compelled to write a review for Amazon, but after reading this book, I felt I had to. I am by no means a Marilyn or Jackie fanatic, but I have read a few non-fiction books on them both. From the little knowledge I have on their personalities, I find it ridiculous that either of them would react or respond in the way portrayed by Ms. Leigh.

I realize that this is historical fiction, however, if you do decide to buy this book, remember that it is much more fiction than history. I find it amusing that the author tends to throw in historical events like Einstein passing, or the 50's quiz show scandal to somehow make the book seem authentic.

Also, from what little I know about Jackie, she was certainly aware of Jack's affair with Marilyn almost from the beginning. Jackie hated Marilyn and found her an annoyance. I hardly think she would have been so cordial to her husband's mistress.

However, as ludicrous as this book is, I have to admit it is a page turner and very entertaining. If you need an easy, somewhat dumbed down book to escape from reality for a while - this is the book for you!

I bought this book based upon the other good reviews I read, although I was a bit skeptical of how realistic it would seem. It was utterly fascinating. The author did some very good research, and both of the main characters sound as one would imagine had there been an actual relationship.

So Jackie thought Onassis was ugly but she liked him because of his money - everyone knew that from day one. JFK had no morals; Hard to believe Mr. and Mrs. President have to pay for their meals in the White House. That's a disgrace. Marilyn Monroe was very smart even tho she played the dumb blonde. She wrote she'd never kill herself. I still believe that Jack and Robert had someone murder Marilyn as she knew too much and could cause problems; their solution: kill her, problem solved. Interesting about John Wayne being caught with a guy. He seemed so macho.

I haven't read a book for fun in a long time, I wound up stumbling upon this title after some late night Googling of the connections between the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe, the assasinations of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and the mysterious death of Sam Giancana, the night before he was scheduled to testify about the Kennedys in US Federal Court. This book is collection of ficticious letters written between Marilyn and Jackie, based on events that actually happened. Though it didn't delve into Mafia-related topics (aside from the mere mention that Marilyn was paranoid someone might have tapped her phone), it was such a good book, I read the entire thing in 3ish hours.

I stumbled across Wendy Leigh's The Secret Letters of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy at a flea market, and I'm so glad I did. While some reviewers feel she does a disservice to both women by fictionalizing their story, I found this epistolary novel both refreshing and informative, and it made me want to read more, especially about Jackie.

The setup is that Marilyn and Jackie become pen pals, and pour their hearts out to each other. The details they reveal, about family, love, pride, ambition, men, and sex are ones that each, in the book's world, anyway, wouldn't share with others under most circumstances.

Marilyn's vulnerability crossed with Jackie's at times steeliness is an interesting contrast, though it seems that Leigh's central premise is that the two women are much more similar than they are different. Not just in their taste in men, but in their sense that they are set apart from the rest of society, on their own. Perhaps most telling is when Marilyn says that if she could come back as anyone in the world, she'd wish to be Caroline Kennedy. There aren't too many direct references to her intimate time with JFK, save for at the end in a slightly over-the-top detailed account of giving him blowjobs, but one can clearly sense her longing for a father figure.

Sourced with footnotes that flesh out stories told in the letters, this is an excellent novel filled with history but, most of all, emotion. There are aspects to their lives that any woman can relate to, despite their mega-fame. When Marilyn finally confesses to Jackie that she has been secretly having an affair with her husband, the precarious relationship threatens to tumble. Interwoven throughout these letters is Jack Kennedy, and while perhaps the toughest hurdle to overcome reading this is that the two could become true friends and confidantes despite that adulterous elephant in the room, they seem to understand each other regarding both his appeal, his need for comfort from women, and what he lacks.

Marilyn's frantic, sometimes drug-addled letters, show her declining state of mind, and Jackie, while mostly keeping an even keel, occasionally shows her own vulnerability, sometimes only in glimpses from the also-fictional diary Leigh weaves throughout the story. Sure, we know how the book's going to end (and the other endings that take place beyond Marilyn's death), but the competition and trust between the two women gives plenty of food for thought. Leigh, through the conceit of the letters, is able to suggest all sorts of twisted ideas - that Jackie gave Marilyn the idea to sing to JFK seductively on his birthday, knowing this would alienate him.

This book made me want to know more about each woman, and to appreciate the qualities each possessed, how each went about making something of herself. Leigh deals sensitively and compassionately with some potentially explosive topics - the suggestion that Marilyn spent a week as a call girl. Whether she did or not, Leigh does not condemn her for it, and you'd be hard pressed to read Marilyn's words and condemn her either. Reading between the lines here, in the footnotes and what was not included in the letters, is almost as much fun as reading the letters themselves. Kudos to Leigh for giving her own twist to history, while not going all the way out into thin air. After reading this book, I plan to investigate more into the lives of each woman; Leigh's triumph is in bringing them to life in a way that perhaps even the most nuanced biographer cannot, simply by the nature of the genre.

Jackie O and Marilyn Monroe are two of the most fascinating and legendary women in history. Marilyn remains to this day a silver screen goddess and Hollywood legend, even 45 years after her tragic death. Jacqueline Onassis, also known as Jackie Kennedy, was the iconically fashionable first lady, married to a beloved President who was eventually assassinated before her very eyes.

President Kennedy reportedly told British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan that if he didn't have nonmarital sex at least once a day he got a headache. His affairs were no mystery, and it was said that Jacqueline willingly turned a blind eye to them. Marilyn Monroe was one of J.F.K's most well-known mistresses. She fell in love with him, and in later years when her relationship with J.F.K ended, she also began a relationship with his brother, Bobby Kennedy.

This novel creates a fictional relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O. through the use of written correspondence letters. As a reader you are transported into these women's lives during the 1950's and 60's, a time of great turmoil for each of them. They exchange letters with each other and enter into a strange sort of friendship, though by all accounts they should be enemies. Each letter beautifully illustrates the personality and wit of the letter writer, and includes factual details obtained through extensive research of these two women, who were polar opposites, yet found themselves in love with the same man.

The story that unfolds is tinged with real-life events, such as Marilyn's infamous serenading of the President at his birthday gala. Although this is an imagined secret correspondence between Marilyn and Jackie, I almost wish it were real because these characters truly come alive before your eyes. Their thoughts and emotions are very real, and it makes you wonder if perhaps they *could* have had some sort of friendship.

I admire both of these women, and this book was a very special treat for me because I'm a very big Marilyn Monroe fan. Although this is a fictional account of events, I truly enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it to any chick lit lovers.

From the first to the last site of this notable book the pressure and allure held me caught. Through the whole book I was torn between the real information and details which are noted from their two really different lifes and the fact that this novel and the story is just fictitious. Everything seems to fit so perfectly that the reader has the impression that these letters have been written and sent by Jackie and Marilyn. Many little details from biographies and people who have known Marilyn or Jackie for years make the whole story authentic.
Through the years, marriages & divorces, pregnancies and acquaintances these letters arrange a grasp for their actions and for the eventful time these great divas lived in. A feeling for this era, the fears both of them had, their hopes and wishes are easy to understand when they talk frankly to each other. I also liked how visionary Wendy Leigh gave both of them an own style of writing, Jackie's mostly spiritual style of writing, the lyric way she could talk about her desires and wishes, but also the knowledge how to avoid unmeant questions and how to barricade behind a wall of aristocracy and formal flowery phrases. Marylin's style of writing was more kiddy, I think, she had lots of spelling mistakes and an easier way of writing, outspoken, what I guess was a known chapter of her character.
I have read a couple of books about Jackie before I found this book and I was always fascinated by the sweet charm she performed and with whom she banished a lot of people, mostly man were fallen for her cute way of communicating. That's a well expressed part in the book, too, I give Wendy Leigh credit for and for so many researched habits which made the two characters lively and loving.
Marilyn's amours and Jackie's depressions are accompanied by the phantom lover and Marilyn's One Love Mr.G which causes much action in the book . Though Marilyn and Jackie just met a few times her contact by letter lasted for years, intimate and outspoken they talked about their private life and past, the newest gossip and their desires.
I can truely advise this particular book for every Jackie and Marilyn fan and lovers of exciting and fetching stories. This book can give you a completly new insight and an animate picture of these wonderful, strong characters who inspired so many people untill now.

I don't care who you are, imagining the private lives of the wealthy and privilege is a crime we are all guilty of. This book was so fun to read. I have to judge this one on the author's originality and knowledge of two famous women from history rather than the layout, grammar etc that usually make up my reviews. To imagine that this could have been going on for years with these two powerful women was fun and slightly disturbing at the same time. It was kind of like looking through someone's personal diary and knowing you might get caught in the act. I had fun with this book and thought the author did a good job of making you forget it was fiction you were reading. Great for a fun afternoon read.

I got so caught up in this book that I forgot it was a story. It was touching and funny and sad, you could feel the pain and angst of both women and the joy and titallation they had from writing to each other. The story had facts dotted throughout and that was a fascinating part of the story. This is an interesting and insightful read of two women loving the same man.

While these letters between Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy are tentatively not real, you start to read them and are swept into them. I have much admiration for both of these women, they were both in love with the same man, and with so much research done in writing this, kudos to Wendy Leigh for creating what seem like real letters to each other.