{"title":"Mimi Alford","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"once-upon-a-secret-book-mimi-alford-9780091931759","title":"Once upon a Secret","description":"In 1963, Mimi Beardsley was a naive young American girl, very much a product of her class and time - she had attended the same exclusive girls' school as Jackie Bouvier, now installed in the White House as the president's wife. Which is also where Mimi found herself, as an 18-year-old intern. The JFK White House was a place for which she was not remotely prepared, dominated by the charismatic and sexually rapacious figure of the president. Within days, they had started a relationship.  There are several extraordinary things about Mimi's story. One is that she has evaded notice from any of the biographers of JFK and other chroniclers of the heady days and sexual shenanigans of Camelot.  Only by chance did a reporter in 2006 follow up a mention of her name in a book about JFK, and doorstep her - now a married grandmother living quietly in New York - to find out whether she was the Mimi Beardsely mentioned in a passing reference.   This is all the more surprising given the length of time the affair continued - 18 months - and the fact that it was ended only by his assassination.   Mimi Beardsley Alford has decided, after 40 years of silence and deep reflection, to tell her story. But this is not just a personal memoir of a young woman of her generation and class coming of age in the 1960s, and her relationship with JFK.  She also examines the significant impact it had on her life and relationships since, why she has chosen to remain silent for so long, and why she feels that this is the moment to speak out.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49504810533137,"sku":"GOR010618325","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49537663828241,"sku":"GOR012415941","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49994784506129,"sku":"CINB009O2YC22A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50344555348241,"sku":"CIN0091931754G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53403930099985,"sku":"GOR010616293","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53503557107985,"sku":"CIN0091931754VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B009O2YC22.jpg?v=1751426745"},{"product_id":"once-upon-a-secret-book-mimi-alford-9781400069101","title":"Once Upon a Secret","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e#1 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eBESTSELER \u003c\/b\u003e- \u003cb\u003eWith 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.\u003ci\u003e--The Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the summer of 1962, nineteen-year-old Mimi Beardsley arrived in Washington, D.C., to begin an internship in the White House press office. After just three days on the job, the privileged but sheltered young woman was presented to the President himself. Almost immediately, the two began an affair that would continue for the next eighteen months. Emotionally unprepared to counter the President's charisma and power, Mimi was also ill-equipped to handle 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. After the President's assassination in Dallas, she grieved alone, locked her secret away, and tried to start a new life, only to be blindsided by her past. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now, no longer defined by silence or shame, Mimi Alford finally unburdens herself with this unflinchingly honest account of her life and her extremely private moments with a very public man. 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During the 18 months that Mimi Alford was President John F Kennedy’s lover, he never kissed her on the lips.   For the naive All American girl, the JFK White House was a place for which she was not remotely prepared. Dominated by the charismatic and sexually magnetic figure of the president, it was as a 19-year-old intern in the White House press office that Mimi Alford became the object of Kennedy’s affections, and within days they had started a relationship.   She lost her virginity to him on her fourth day at work.  In Once Upon a Secret, for the first time, Alford has revealed every detail of her experiences as Kennedy’s mistress – an affair that was ended only by his assassination.   Mimi has decided, after 40 years of silence and deep reflection, to tell her story.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49547736482065,"sku":"GOR005155461","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49593651462417,"sku":"GOR005498602","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49653969027345,"sku":"GOR006418352","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0099547759.jpg?v=1751131845"},{"product_id":"once-upon-a-secret-book-mimi-alford-9780812981346","title":"Once Upon a Secret","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e#1 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eBESTSELER \u003c\/b\u003e- \u003cb\u003eWith 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. . . . 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After the President's assassination in Dallas, she grieved alone, locked her secret away, and tried to start a new life, only to be blindsided by her past. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now, no longer defined by silence or shame, Mimi Alford finally unburdens herself with this unflinchingly honest account of her life and her extremely private moments with a very public man. 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Which is also where Mimi found herself, as an 18-year-old intern. The JFK White House was a place for which she was not remotely prepared, dominated by the charismatic and sexually rapacious figure of the president. Within days, they had started a relationship.  There are several extraordinary things about Mimi's story. One is that she has evaded notice from any of the biographers of JFK and other chroniclers of the heady days and sexual shenanigans of Camelot.  Only by chance did a reporter in 2006 follow up a mention of her name in a book about JFK, and doorstep her - now a married grandmother living quietly in New York - to find out whether she was the Mimi Beardsely mentioned in a passing reference.   This is all the more surprising given the length of time the affair continued - 18 months - and the fact that it was ended only by his assassination.   Mimi Beardsley Alford has decided, after 40 years of silence and deep reflection, to tell her story. But this is not just a personal memoir of a young woman of her generation and class coming of age in the 1960s, and her relationship with JFK.  She also examines the significant impact it had on her life and relationships since, why she has chosen to remain silent for so long, and why she feels that this is the moment to speak out.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50870079947025,"sku":"GOR003776306","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/009193656X.jpg?v=1751290441"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-mimi-alford.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}