Once Upon a Secret, Mimi Alford
Once Upon a Secret, Mimi Alford
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Once Upon a Secret
My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath

Author: Mimi Alford

Narrator: Susan Denaker

Unabridged: 6 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/08/2012


Synopsis

In the summer of 1962, nineteen-year-old Mimi Beardsley arrived by train in Washington, D.C., to begin an internship in the White House press office. The Kennedy Administration had reinvigorated the capital and the country—and Mimi was eager to contribute. For a young woman from a privileged but sheltered upbringing, the job was the chance of a lifetime. Although she started as a lowly intern, Mimi made an impression on Kennedy’s inner circle and, after just three days at the White House, she was presented to the President himself.
 
Almost immediately, the two began an affair that would continue for the next eighteen months.
 
In an era when women in the workplace were still considered “girls,” Mimi was literally a girl herself—naïve, innocent, emotionally unprepared for the thrill that came when the President’s charisma and power were turned on her full-force. She was also unprepared for the feelings of isolation that would follow as she fell into the double life of a college student who was also the secret lover of the most powerful man in the world. Then, after the President’s tragic death in Dallas, she grieved in private, locked her secret away, and tried to start her life anew, only to find that her past would cast a long shadow—and ultimately destroy her relationship with the man she married.
 
In 2003, a Kennedy biographer mentioned “a tall, slender, beautiful nineteen-year-old college sophomore and White House intern, who worked in the press office” in reference to one of the President’s affairs. The disclosure set off a tabloid frenzy and soon exposed Mimi and the secret that she had kept for forty-one years. Because her past had been revealed in such a shocking, public way, she was forced, for the first time, to examine the choices she’d made. She came to understand that shutting down one part of her life so completely had closed her off from so much more.
 
No longer defined by silence or shame, Mimi Alford has finally unburdened herself with this searingly honest account of her life and her extremely private moments with a very public man. Once Upon a Secret offers a new and personal depiction of one of our most iconic leaders and a powerful, moving story of a woman coming to terms with her past and moving out of the shadows to reclaim the truth.

About The Author

Mimi Alford lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, Dick. Together they have seven grandchildren. This is her first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Steven on February 13, 2020

SAYING #METOO TO JOHN F. KENNEDY: CONFESSIONS AND ACCUSATIONS FROM A WHITE HOUSE INTERN. There is a difference between reviewing a book and psycho-analyzing an author. But this book provokes me to blur that distinction. Mimi Alford, author of ONCE UPON A SECRET, can't decide if she is writing a confes......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on February 11, 2012

I expected this to be a little more salacious. Mimi Beardsley was the original White House intern, in the Kennedy administration, and was basically outed a few years ago by the press. What most struck me about this memoir is, though she wrote it in her late 60s, it reads every bit the naïve 19 year......more

Goodreads review by Christie on January 06, 2013

I totally, completely loved this book, much to my surprise. I picked it up looking for a tawdry thrill and haven't stopped thinking about it since. Why? Here's why. First of all, the author came off as someone who has done a ton of self-analysis and has really thought about what she did from every po......more

Goodreads review by Skyring on February 19, 2012

America was in love with JFK. Even those who hadn't voted for him in 1960, many of whom selectively edited their memories after his death to say that they had. For 19 year old Mimi Beardsley, recruited as a summer intern following a fleeting meeting with the President, there was no chance. He literal......more

Goodreads review by Cyndee on February 12, 2012

This was a quick read, only took a few hours, and I think you will find worth your time. This is, at its essense, the story of a woman taking nearly a lifetime to claim her power. It is also a story about a man's egregious abuse of power toward a innocent 19 year old girl. She could have said no,you......more


Quotes

“With the benefit of hindsight and good old-fashioned maturity, [Mimi Alford] writes not just about the secret, but the corrosive effect of keeping that secret. . . . You can’t help liking her, or her elegant and thoroughly good-natured book.”—The Spectator
 
“What [Alford] sacrificed in lucre she has more than recovered in credibility and dignity.”The Washington Times
 
“Compelling . . . a polished voice telling a credible story you can take to the bank.”Seattle Post-Intelligencer
 
“Explosive . . . searingly candid.”—New York Post