When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine - Paperback

by Monica Wood (Author)

Winner of the 2012 Sarton Memoir Award

"Every few years, a memoir comes along that revitalizes the form...With generous, precise, and unsentimental prose, Monica Wood brilliantly achieves this . . . When We Were the Kennedys is a deeply moving gem!"--Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog and Townie

Mexico, Maine, 1963: The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on the fathers' wages from the Oxford Paper Company. But when Dad suddenly dies on his way to work, Mum and the four deeply connected Wood girls are set adrift. When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how a family, a town, and then a nation mourns and finds the strength to move on.

"On her own terms, wry and empathetic, Wood locates the melodies in the aftershock of sudden loss."--Boston Globe

"[A] marvel of storytelling, layered and rich. It is, by turns, a chronicle of the renowned paper mill that was both pride and poison to several generations of a town; a tribute to the ethnic stew of immigrant families that grew and prospered there; and an account of one family's grief, love, and resilience."--Maine Sunday Telegram

Back Jacket

Winner of the 2012 Sarton Memorial Award
Every few years, a memoir comes along that revitalizes the form With generous, precise, and unsentimental prose, Monica Wood brilliantly achieves this . . . When We Were the Kennedys is a deeply moving gem! Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog and Townie
Mexico, Maine, 1963: The Wood family is much like its close, Catholic, immigrant neighbors, all dependent on the fathers wages from the Oxford Paper Company. But when Dad suddenly dies on his way to work, Mum and the four deeply connected Wood girls are set adrift. When We Were the Kennedys is the story of how a family, a town, and then a nation mourns and finds the strength to move on.
On her own terms, wry and empathetic, Wood locates the melodies in the aftershock of sudden loss. Boston Globe
[A] marvel of storytelling, layered and rich. It is, by turns, a chronicle of the renowned paper mill that was both pride and poison to several generations of a town; a tribute to the ethnic stew of immigrant families that grew and prospered there; and an account of one family s grief, love, and resilience. Maine Sunday Telegram

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Author Biography

MONICA WOOD is the author of the novel Any Bitter Thing, an American Booksellers Association extended bestseller and a Book Sense Top Ten pick; Ernie's Ark; and My Only Story, a finalist for the Kate Chopin Award.