A Review of KENNEDY GIRL by Walter Herbst
Kennedy Girl is an entertaining and provocative book that takes place in the turbulent year of 1968. Having written two books on the JFK assassination myself, what made the book so compelling for me is the historical accuracy of the events that unfold as a backdrop to the main story.
The main characters of the book are two teenagers, Annie Shea and Lucas Jones. Annie is white and comes from a strict Catholic family with an overbearing father and disinterested mother. Lucas is a talented African American with a bright future who knows he will have to navigate obstacles in the racially charged times in which he lives.
Annie and Lucas develop a relationship, which would be a wonderful and interesting story by itself. However, what sets this work apart from others is the way author Caitlin Hicks navigates the couple through historical events that provide an insight in how difficult those times were. It is highly readable prose, and Ms. Hicks is a gifted writer to be able to present a complex story so effectively.
There are the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the riots in Watts, the Vietnam War protests, a draft dodger trying to escape it, the generational gap that defined the times, race relations and police brutality, Catholic values vs. abortion and interracial relations, and so much more.
Not to mention the metamorphosis of Annie Shea, who changes from an innocent Catholic girl who did what she was told, to a young woman forced to mature quickly due to what she had to endure.
Kennedy Girl crosses multiple genres and will appeal to many people. It is a book that will entertain readers and educate them at the same time. I highly recommend it.
– Walter Herbst, author of It Did Not Start with JFK
