Today's LiveLine
Author Beatriz Williams
Imagine Jackie Kennedy before she married Jack. Pretty, sophisticated with her own interests and career goals. Then she gets caught up in the Kennedy mystique and gives up everything to live the Camelot dream. Add some dirty little secrets, a wild sister and a brief but intense affair with a cousin.
Sound like delicious fun?
You bet it is. Replace Jackie with Tiny Schuyler Hardcastle and you've got "Tiny Little Thing," the latest must-read-this-summer novel by Beatriz Williams. Not that this is a veiled biography of Jackie Kennedy. This just gives you an idea of the era, and the kind of people who are in the book.
Williams makes you root for Tiny as she comes into her own and realizes she may not want to be part of the Hardcastle dream after all. The chapters go back and forth from 1964 (pre-marriage) to "present day" 1966, when Tiny's husband Frank is running for Congress.
We were briefly introduced to Tiny in last summer's "The Secret Life of Violent Grant," which center on Tiny's sister Vivian. But you don't have to read that to follow this one (although I highly recommend TSLVG because it's so good).
I'm hoping Williams keeps the Schuyler Sisters alive with at least one more book. But, if we're lucky, she'll give us several more
You can hear my interview with Beatriz Williams here.
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