What an amazing book all about the Kennedys, but specifically on Rosemary and her heartbreaking life. Rosemary was a beautiful young lady who, unfortunately, never progressed beyond a 4th grade intellect, and who was prone to outbursts and temper tantrums. Her parents moved her from school to school, never really telling the schoolmasters about Rosemary's issues, just leaving it to them to find out. In 1941, Joe Kennedy learned of a newer procedure that would cure people with social and intellectual problems, what we now know as a frontal lobotomy. The lobotomy left Rosemary with almost no speaking or physical capabilities. Over time, she did get better physically, but she was never the same as she was before 1941.
Her story is wrenching and her parents were just so uncaring and preoccupied with political ambition. Towards the end of the book, the reader does start to feel a bit better after learning about the work of Eunice and the oodles of money that were donated to causes for mentally challenged people by Joe, Rose, and the Kennedy children and grandchildren. Still, it seems one person's life had to be sacrificed to help so many other lives. A great book if you want to start to learn about the inner workings of the Kennedy family.
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