num_pages: 198
description: In '62 Mimi Beardsley was a naive teen a product of her class &amp; time. She'd attended the same exclusive girls' school as Jackie Bouvier now installed in the White House as the first lady. Which is also where Mimi found herself as an 18-year-old intern. JFK's White House was a place for which she wasn't remotely prepared dominated by the charismatic &amp; sexually rapacious figure of the president. Within four days they'd started a relationship. There are several extraordinary things about Mimi's story. One is that she'd evaded notice from any of the biographers of JFK &amp; other chroniclers of the heady days &amp; sexual shenanigans of Camelot. Only by chance did a reporter in 2006 follow up a mention of her name in a JFK book &amp; doorstep her--a married NY grandmother--to find out whether she was the Mimi Beardsely mentioned in a passing reference. This is all the more surprising given the length of the affair--18 months--&amp; the fact that it was ended only by his death. Mimi Beardsley Alford has decided after decades of silence &amp; reflection to tell her story. This is not just a memoir of a young woman of her generation &amp; class coming of age in the 60s &amp; her relationship with JFK. She also examines the significance it had in her life &amp; relationships since why she chose to be silent for so long &amp; why she feels this is the time to speak out.
language: English
title: Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath
publisher: Random House