What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love

What Remains begins with loss and returns to loss. A small plane plunges into the ocean carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., Anthony's cousin, and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Carole's closest friend. Three weeks later Anthony dies of cancer. With unflinching honesty and a journalist's keen eye, Carole Radziwill explores the enduring ties of family, the complexities of marriage, the importance of friendship, and the challenges of self-invention. Beautifully written, What Remains "gets at the essence of what matters," wrote Oprah Winfrey. "Friendship, compassion, destiny."

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Carole Radziwill, 2008-08-09
A vacuous book - and its main focus, whom Radziwill still seems to have a kind of schoolgirl crush on (just as she was awestruck by glamorous twins at high school) - Carolyn Bessette - emerges as a shockingly vacuous woman.

The latter only has opinions on the clothes and makeup people wear. She herself bought a wardrobe of Prada clothes for what she thought would be her role as "Mrs Kennedy" - a role that never materialised, Bessette herself seemingly having no cultural, historical or charitable interests whatsover.

Carole's and Carolyn's cultural references are "Thelma and Louise" and Wendy's. Well into their thirties, they exchange secret friendship rings in a way most females are over by their late teens. Bessette, in England with her husband, can't be bothered to learn about the Runnymede memorial to his father and whines about the trip. Radziwill opines that "Europeans" use titles the way Americans say "Mr". You can't take the wide-eyed, gullible, lower class girl out of her. In fact, titles are illegal in Germany and rarely if ever used in, for example, France.

Carole and Caroline, conversely, seem to be convinced that Carole and Anthony are somehow "royal". In fact, Upon becoming a British citizen, Radziwill was unable to use his former noble (not royal) title without special license from the Queen. He did not receive such a dispensation, so he was legally Mr. Radziwill, but was called Prince out of courtesy only.

The copious name-dropping adds to the irritation factor and to the feeling that the author is an airhead dazed by cheap celebrity.




2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

An Extraordinary Life, 2008-07-31
This is a beautiful memory of four fabulous people who were lucky enough to meet and spend a portion of their lives together. Carole Radziwell wrote a very specific, revealing account of her relationships--with her loving husband, and his famous cousin and wife.

It must have taken a lot to examine her early life and sharply contrast that with the fairytale life with a prince. It had to be very difficult to go through the illness of her husband and lose him and her best friends, but she gently recalls their story without pity.

I couldn't put the book down. I read it first thing in the morning and right before bed at night, fitting it in as often as I could until I finished the story.

I hope that Carole can look back and be glad that it happened instead of sad that it ended. She's an exquisite woman. I highly recommend this book.





1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Dind't care for it., 2008-07-17
I didn't really care for it, from reading the front flap I thought this book would be much more intresting than it really was. I was never able to really get into the book, and was seen forcing myself to finish it. The only reason I made myself finish the book was to read the ending, about John and Carolyn's accident and the way Anthony passes away.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

great book, 2008-07-02
I just finished this book and I loved it. i love carole Radzwill's story telling style, loved it! Her stories are poignant and honest. There is much humor here also. She loves information and she gives it out to others who want it too. I hope she will continue to write.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Deceptive and Shallow, 2008-06-02
Charlie Rose interviewed Carole and I remember thinking, "My, he's so dismissive of her." I can see why now. She never makes any of these people come to life.

That's the tragedy of the whole thing...you never get to know any of these folks. I mean Carolyn forgets her toothbrush when she stays in the house that all of them share. So? I mean that is about as deep as she is going to get into this woman.

At the end of Charlie Rose's interview with Carole Radziwill he left her feeling so miffed that SHE had to tell HIM that people thought she told her story well. He just shrugged. He was right.

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