What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 3,876 ratings · 680 reviews

What Remains is a vivid and haunting memoir about a girl from a working-class town who becomes an award-winning television producer and marries a prince, Anthony Radziwill, one of a long line of Polish royals and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Carole Radziwill's story is part fairy tale, part tragedy. She tells both with great candor and wit. Carole grew up in a smal...more

ebook, 272 pages

Published October 7th 2005 by Scribner (first published 2005)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Nov 15, 2012 RNOCEAN rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

""What Remains" is a vivid and haunting memoir about a girl from a working-class town who becomes an award-winning television producer and marries a prince, Anthony Radziwill, one of a long line of Polish royals and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Carole Radziwill's story is part fairy tale, part tragedy. She tells both with great candor and wit.Carole grew up in a small suburb with a large, eccentric cast of characters. She spent her childhood summers with her grandparents and an odd assor...more ""What Remains" is a vivid and haunting memoir about a girl from a working-class town who becomes an award-winning television producer and marries a prince, Anthony Radziwill, one of a long line of Polish royals and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Carole Radziwill's story is part fairy tale, part tragedy. She tells both with great candor and wit.Carole grew up in a small suburb with a large, eccentric cast of characters. She spent her childhood summers with her grandparents and an odd assortment of aunts and uncles in their poorly plumbed A-frame on the banks of a muddy creek in upstate New York.

At the age of nineteen, Carole struck out for New York City to find a different life. Her career at ABC News led her to the refugee camps of Cambodia, to a bunker in Tel Aviv, to the scene of the Menendez murders. Her marriage led her into the old world of European nobility and the newer world of American aristocracy.

"What Remains" begins with loss and returns to loss. A small plane plunges into the ocean, carrying John Kennedy, Anthony's cousin, and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Carole's closest friend. Three weeks later Anthony dies of cancer. The summer of the plane crash, the four friends were meant to be cherishing Anthony's last days. Instead, Carole and Anthony mourned John and Carolyn, even as Carole planned her husband's memorial.

Carole Radziwill has an anthropologist's sensibility and a journalist's eye. She writes about families--their customs, their secrets, and their tangled intimacies-- with remarkable acuity and humanity. She explores the complexities of marriage, the importance of friendship, and the challenges of self-invention with unflinching honesty. This is a compelling story of love, loss, and, ultimately, resilience."

Rate this 5/5 I loved this book! I think everyone thinks that the story of a little girl growing up, meeting her prince and living happily ever after, but that's not always the case. I love this author's writing style, not apologetic for feeling emotions that we all will one day have to experience. She lost three of the most important people in her life in a period of just three weeks. Unlike the author Joan Didion whom I found to be cold and self-absorbed, I found Carole to be just like the rest of us having to adapt to the loss of good friends and partners. She is a remarkable woman.(less)

like 6 likes · see review

Sep 16, 2012 Jay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Girl meets boy. Girl falls in love. Girl marries boy. Their fairytale is over in a few short years.

I read What Remains after having caught a glimpse of a few interviews Carole had done before its release. As shocking as it sounds now, I was not familiar with the Radziwill name, nor was I looking for a Kennedy tell-all. People interested in either are likely to be disappointed.

Watt Remains is heartbreaking, beautiful, and utterly tragic. The themes of love, support, and loss are relatable and i...more

like 3 likes · see review

Aug 19, 2011 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People of JFK Jr.'s generation and those not afraid of the dark side.

Recommended to Stephen by: Mom.

My mother passed "What Remains" along and, like all choices not my own where reading is concerned, the book warranted only a grudging early perusal.

Nonetheless, this haunting autobiography won the day. Carole Radziwill, according to the sleeve notes, is working on a novel and it should be worth plunking down some money on a chance when it comes out (if not already on the shelves).

Publishers would naturally salivate at a chance to run the memoir of a young and middle class girl who marries into t...more

like 8 likes · see review

Nov 16, 2007 Leigh Hancock rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: my relatives in Wisconsin, bless their souls

I'm still not sure how I got this book; the library called one day and said it was in and I could pick it up. So I did, and discovered that it is a memoir by a woman who married a Polish prince who was dying of cancer (although she didn't know that when they married) and who was also by chance a cousin of JFK Jr. So it's partly the story of how her fairytale marriage turned grisly, but more significantly, it's about how much she came to love JFK Jr's wife, Carolyn Bissett....to the extent that s...more

like 5 likes · see review

Sep 16, 2012 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started this book less than 24 hours ago, and had to fight myself to not stay up all night and finish it. The writing is incredible. The story flows so easily, it feels like fiction. If only it were...
I am, I believe, near the end, and have to save it for later. I can't bring myself to finish it now.

like 11 likes · see review

May 12, 2013 Tanya W rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For me, I have a hard time relating to Carole. I dislike the feeling of judgment I sometimes feel when I read, but all in all I think it's good to be able to take our values and view of the world and allow ourselves to judge books (the authors kind of put themselves out there to be judged by their writing). I can see how this was probably cathartic to write, but I was sometimes disappointed in the author and her view of things.

I particularly thought her estimation of "tragedy whores" was a bit d...more For me, I have a hard time relating to Carole. I dislike the feeling of judgment I sometimes feel when I read, but all in all I think it's good to be able to take our values and view of the world and allow ourselves to judge books (the authors kind of put themselves out there to be judged by their writing). I can see how this was probably cathartic to write, but I was sometimes disappointed in the author and her view of things.

I particularly thought her estimation of "tragedy whores" was a bit disturbing and uncalled for... how can she judge others and the way they grieve and the way they band together for solace... I thought it was an extremely dim view of women... she can't know their motives. I think that particular example is more of a statement about her own emotions and shows a great lack of love and tolerance in general towards other people... especially towards the teenagers that inspired that insult... I mean come on, if you can't look back on the people you know in high school with tolerance and kindness when you are in your late 40's, what have you learned in life? Some people I wouldn't have related to at all in high school have proven to be outstanding women. Okay, I'm done with that tirade. Well, not quite, isn't being a journalist the ultimate "tragedy whore" job?

It also seemed that maybe she was passive in the way life happened to her when it came to marriage... I suppose that is sort of the way things happen in many relationships.

I didn't like the episode of sneaking away from her peers to hang out with a married male journalist all day in a sort of platonic tryst... I'm wondering why she shared that. It's a thing I don't want to understand and am glad that I live in a somewhat naive world that keeps me far away from any situation that would be considered disloyal or fence-sitting when it comes to marital fidelity.

Nevertheless, the book has it's interest factor... like another reviewer compared it to tabloid material.

I don't envy Ms. Radziwill and hope for her the best going forward, she has experienced a lot of loss and is obviously a woman with many talents and strengths. (less)

like 1 like · see review

Dec 19, 2012 CJ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Confession is good for the soul, right? Here's my latest, I absolutely love watching The Real Housewives of New York City. There is something so compelling about following someone around in their "daily" life and just watching - must be the voyeur in me. So Carole Radziwill was one of the newest housewives this last season and I found I didn't much like her. She wasn't as vibrant as the other housewives.

I picked this book up because she spoke very little about this chapter in her life on the sho...more

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 28, 2012 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There were positives and negatives to reading this book. The positives? Carole was seemingly honest in her portrayal of how hers and Anthony's relationship progressed. She didn't make it seem like the two of them fell head over heels in love or were faultless. It's clear that theirs was a love that gradually unfurled throughout the years, as opposed to starting with a bang. Carole's descriptions were also so vivid that I was able to easily picture scenes from the book in my head. Negatives? The...more

like · see review

Oct 26, 2012 Andreasoldier rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up at the local used bookstore because I saw the author, now a cast member, talking about it on "Houseswives of New York."
This is a tearjerker of a book. Radziwill grew a up in a lower middle-class household, sometimes on welfare, worked at Caldors (!) in high school, put herself through college and got a job working on a news desk, becoming an Emmy-winning journalist.
Along the way she met Anthony Radziwill, a Polish prince working in the TV journalism field. The two carried on a l...more

like 2 likes · see review

Oct 16, 2012 Michelle Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Where do I even begin? This has to be one of the best memoirs I’ve read to date. This woman has such a way with words; her heavy emotions are laid throughout every page. I first heard of Carole Radziwill when I saw her on tv, then heard she was journalist at ABC news, then learned of the tribulations in her past. My curiosity grew as I wanted to know more about her, her experience of marrying into a Polish royal family, and her befriending John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife.

Carole brings us back...more

like 6 likes · see review

Sep 17, 2012 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is an eloquently written memoir of a woman who lost her husband and two best friends within a three week time period. While anyone's loss deserves its own unique account, the author's loved ones were extremely famous and cherished people within recent American history. While Carole Radziwill's name is not too recognizable,it just so happens that her two best friends were JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn , and that her husband was Anthony Radziwill, the nephew of Jackie Kennedy and best fri...more

like 3 likes · see review

Aug 29, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hospice-dying, memoirsbios

I only heard of this from my Bravo TV vice, but Carole Radziwell is a whole different Housewives animal. This memoir of three wrenching deaths in quick succession is brutal, open and honest. It's kind of nice to see her on RHONY because she has a lightness about her in addition to her seriousness that shows that she has weathered this storm.

I really believe she captures the process and aftermath of loss better than Joan Didion, who I find cold.

"There is an imperceptible shift of a life in the...more

like 3 likes · see review

Aug 16, 2012 christa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Carole Radziwill is Bravo TV bait, but only on paper: She’s a 40-something woman with a title, relatively few facial creases, a famous last name and has a limb-by-marriage on the Kennedy family tree. But the new addition to Season 5 of “The Real Housewives of New York” has little in common with her castmates. When it comes to manicured talons and wine screeches, Radziwill’s signature move is no move at all. A surprised blink, an incredulous “Is this really happening” as a shitshow explodes aroun...more Carole Radziwill is Bravo TV bait, but only on paper: She’s a 40-something woman with a title, relatively few facial creases, a famous last name and has a limb-by-marriage on the Kennedy family tree. But the new addition to Season 5 of “The Real Housewives of New York” has little in common with her castmates. When it comes to manicured talons and wine screeches, Radziwill’s signature move is no move at all. A surprised blink, an incredulous “Is this really happening” as a shitshow explodes around her and she ducks for safety behind one of the husbands.

She’s the anti-Housewife, actually: Smart, non-judgemental, laid back. No vanity or hubris. She wears crooked pigtails and serves inscribed M&Ms at a lunch in her unassuming apartment. She’s surprised when no one wants to eat the pizza she planned to order.

Radziwill is as foreign to the rest of the troop as they are to her with her mastery of Downtown, semi-formal leather short shorts and super casual kinda relationship with one of the Rolling Stones. In a show famous for posturing, air kisses and one-upmanship, she is the cool girl with a nonchalant shrug. She’s the best thing to happen to the show.

Radziwill’s 2005 bestseller “What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship & Love” is the heart-squeezing story of her life before Ramona Singer. She grew up in a small town and regularly visited hard-partying relatives and a grandmother who stuffed stolen groceries into various folds of her body. She saw her exit plan on TV news: Instead of being an observer to life events, she wanted to be at the life events. Radziwill went from an intern to an award-winning career at ABC News. She meets Polish prince Anthony Radziwill, nephew of John F. Kennedy, while working on pieces about the Menendez Brothers in Los Angeles and they eventually get married.

Then there is the cancer.

Radziwill’s story centers on the terrible summer when they had to stop pretending Anthony was going to beat the disease. He’s spent five years in and out of the best cancer treatment facilities in the world. In moments of reprieve they carry on as usual -- life, work, travel -- with the disease looming over everything. Radziwill becomes close friends with Carolyn Bessette, John Kennedy Jr.’s wife. It’s the tall blonde beauty who holds her hand through the bad times and critiques her wardrobe during the good. They are adorable as besties, cooing into the phone about their dreams for the future, dinner parties and world travel and buying matching rings.

Then, while Radziwill is preparing for her husband’s death -- John Kennedy has actually begun writing the eulogy -- the celebrity couple dies in a plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard.

“I had prepared for an approaching sorrow, but not, as it turned out, for the one that was nearest,” Radziwill writes.

She’s still disoriented from the loss of the people who were going to comfort her after Anthony’s death when, not much later, he dies.

This one is a gut-puncher, friends. One minute you’re cruising through Radziwill’s unique foray into royalty and her journalistic itch, and then next minute you’re crying so hard you’re nose clogs shut, you’re Googling the iconic photograph of JFK Jr. saluting his father’s casket, and you wonder if this heavy sadness will ever go away.

This book must have been like throwing meat in a cage when it was released seven years ago. So many people hungry for any kind of Camelot-themed anything. Not to mention Radziwill was also a target for paparazzi bulbs. It’s enough of a story and a gawking lure to bury the fact that Radziwill is smart and a good, honest writer. Now, in the Housewives part of her life, the book explains a lot about how she can handle the erupting personalities that surround her and how she became the most likable personality in the history of Bravo TV.(less)

like 12 likes · see review

Aug 15, 2012 Lindsay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A well written story about the most intimate type of friendship and marriage. Interestingly, Carole's intimate relationships were with royalty (literally her husband) or American royalty (her husband's cousin, John F Kennedy, Jr.). This book is DEEP into the treatment and back and forth of cancer. Although she describes this well, it can be overwhelming in terms of being a heavy read.

The book is about her journey through this loss of her husband. It's devastating. And she takes care when she re...more

like 2 likes · see review

Aug 06, 2012 Leigh Kramer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This drew me in right from the start. Carole Radziwill is a fantastic addition to the Real Housewives of New York. She was an award-winning ABC News journalist for 15 years and married to Jackie O's nephew. Her husband Anthony was diagnosed with cancer shortly after they married and his cancer treatment became the focus of their next 5 years together until his death. One of the book's notable gems: "'Metastatic' is a clean, unemotional word, but in layman's terms it means, 'You're screwed.'" She...more

like 4 likes · see review

May 12, 2011 Anne R rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is almost too painful to read. Most Americans remember JFK,Jr crashing the plane and that his wife, Carolyn and her sister, Lauren were on board and maybe some people remember just three week letter his cousin died of cancer. However, I suspect very few people were aware that his cousin's wife was best friends with Carolyn. Within three weeks time, Carole Radiwill (actually Princess Radiwill since her husand, Anthony, was Prince Radiwill of Poland) lost her husband and her best friend....more This book is almost too painful to read. Most Americans remember JFK,Jr crashing the plane and that his wife, Carolyn and her sister, Lauren were on board and maybe some people remember just three week letter his cousin died of cancer. However, I suspect very few people were aware that his cousin's wife was best friends with Carolyn. Within three weeks time, Carole Radiwill (actually Princess Radiwill since her husand, Anthony, was Prince Radiwill of Poland) lost her husband and her best friend. I admit that I sobbed through the last chapter of this book. It is so amazing how Carole Radziwill could tell this story in such an amazing, straight-forward manner never "dropping" names as she writes that Anthony's "aunt" dies and it takes you a moment to realize she is writing about Jackie Kennedy. She doesn't seem to want you to feel sorry for her but to simply tell her story and in doing so she won my heart.

I was angered yet somehow not surprised by the fact Caroline Kennedy never made an effort to make Carolyn or Carole welcome in her home or the "Kennedy" family. Radizwill was never advertly negative in the book when writing about Caroline but she did write that neither she nor Carolyn felt comforted with Caroline. Caroline showed little support to her dying cousin (coming to the hospital once when he had dozens of surgeries) and never visited him at home. John spent a lot of time with Anthony but it was difficult to tell how much of the time he was in denial about Anthony's terminal illness. However, Caroline's attitude seemed to be that everyone was an outside. One telling comment was at a New Year's Eve party when everyone made a prediction about the coming year (John and Carolyn weren't there) and Carole's prediction was that John and Carolyn would get married. Caroline's husband, Ed, nearly shouted "Of course he isn't. Caroline barely knows her.". Well, he was wrong because John and Carolyn did get married that year and if Caroline didn't know Carolyn it was her own failure to make an effort to befriend her. It made me think of Caroline's abopted attempt to run for her Uncle Senate seat when he died. She gave that horrible interview clearly demonstrating she wasn't qualified to run yet I think she considered it because she had some sense of entitlement. When the funeral arrangements were being made for John and Carolyn, Carole was told she wasn't invited because not "everyone" could be there yet Carolyn's mother, Ann, asked Carole to be there for support. Clearly, she was someone close enough to John and Carolyn to be there but Caroline could never get passed her own self-centeredness. As I said, Radiwill wrote little about Caroline Kennedy but, in my opinion, it was the absence of words that told the story about Caroline.

I couldn't help but missed in two pages of notes of gratitude at the end of the book,, Caroline Kennedy's name never appeared.

This book did show a side of Carolyn Kennedy that certainly was never protrayed by the media. She was sweet and caring. A true friend to Carole in good times and a rock of support as Carole struggled with Anthony's cancer.

I hope Carole Radiwill has found peace and new joy in her life and I thank her for telling her moving story with grace, dignity and courage. And, wish Carolyn's parents have found some way to move forward without their two daughters.(less)

like 11 likes · see review

Jul 14, 2009 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“The dandelion is a gawky yellow flower that blooms and then collapse into a soft, clumsy down that little children blow wishes on. There was a sea of dandelions in our back yard on Madison Hill, and Grandma Binder, swinging her scythe, would mount a futile attack on them in her housedress and apron. They grew into a clotted forest of long, milky necks in the backyard, and the best she could hope for was just to cut them down to stubs. It starts with one slouchy weed – pluck it out and it’s gone...more

like 5 likes · see review

Sep 12, 2012 Kricket rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, grief, memoir-ish

2 confessions:

-the 5th star is purely emotional.
-i first picked this book up shortly after it came out, but i decided it would be too sad and didn't read it. my main reason for trying again is the real housewives of new york city. carole radziwill appears so put-together and graceful AND she has an actual life and a real career. one has to wonder why she is on the show at all. except for me to adore her.

and i adore her even more after reading this because the woman can write. she's funny and sel...more

like 4 likes · see review

Jun 13, 2012 Bernadette Walsh rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to say, after the first 40 pages or so (which felt a little disjointed to me, as if the author was "warming up"), I was completely hooked on this book. And to see the bold faced names presented in such a human light was compelling. What was even more compelling was how Ms. Radziwell presented such a searingly honest portrayal of the pain of being a helpless witness to the ravaging power of a horrible disease. I read this book in two days.

Ms. Radziwill is a wonderful writer and I look forw...more

like 3 likes · see review

Jan 27, 2013 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography-memoir

I was really excited when I got a chance to read this book. I had read Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss by RoseMarie Terenzio a while back. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of a young girl from the Bronx becoming the personal assistant to John F. Kennedy Jr. RoseMarie portrayed herself as a genuine, normal gal who got a fairytale job working for an extraordinary boss. I thought this book might be similar. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

Carole Radziwill was married to Joh...more I was really excited when I got a chance to read this book. I had read Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss by RoseMarie Terenzio a while back. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of a young girl from the Bronx becoming the personal assistant to John F. Kennedy Jr. RoseMarie portrayed herself as a genuine, normal gal who got a fairytale job working for an extraordinary boss. I thought this book might be similar. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

Carole Radziwill was married to John F. Kennedy Jr.'s cousin on his mother's side, Anthony Radziwill. Ms. Radziwill was dealt a bad hand when her husband had a relapse of cancer during their honeymoon. He died five years later, just weeks after JFK Jr., and his wife and the author's friend Carolyn did.

The problem I had with this book is that the narrator did not come off as likable. The way she described her courtship with Anthony left me with the impression that she fell in love with the name and lifestyle before she did the man. I'm sure this isn't true but with all the name and place dropping I learned more about Anthony's lifestyle than his personality. She also portrays Carolyn Kennedy, her supposed best friend, in a negative way. Carolyn's quips always came off as putdowns of Carole's lack of style, not friendly teasing.

It pays to have connections. I learned that if you have a famous family member, you can go to the NIH for top notch medical care ahead of regular citizens. I'm not surprised by this, but the author writes like this sort of entitlement should be the norm for people like her husband.

Carole portrays her family as a lovable bunch of eccentrics and her background as working class. Interestingly, she like Rielle Hunter tried to prove her working class sensibility by mentioning that she furnished her home with pieces from the Pottery Barn. Alert to pretentious authors trying to seem working class: Pottery Barn IS expensive. Us true working-class folks buy our furnishings at Ikea and Target if our budget is on track and Goodwill when times are tight. We never shop at Pottery Barn.

I feel badly for Carole Radziwill's husband's illness and death. It appears that Carole is intelligent and was successful at her job at ABC. However, I did not enjoy her book. Perhaps, I'm just bitter because I'll never be one of the beautiful people. I don't understand them and I suspect people like Carole Radziwill wouldn't understand me either.(less)

like · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Liz Koltz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book after seeing Carole on The Real Housewives of New York City. She is so down to Earth and witty, so far.

I liked this book overall, but there were a few points I was surprised by. I was surprised that it was such an easy read, but I was even more surprised that in such a personal memoir there were so many times that the dislike of paparazzi and people intruding in personal matters was brought up. She even calls some that show up at the worst hour "tragedy whores". Did she write th...more I read this book after seeing Carole on The Real Housewives of New York City. She is so down to Earth and witty, so far.

I liked this book overall, but there were a few points I was surprised by. I was surprised that it was such an easy read, but I was even more surprised that in such a personal memoir there were so many times that the dislike of paparazzi and people intruding in personal matters was brought up. She even calls some that show up at the worst hour "tragedy whores". Did she write this book for them?

When she wasn't talking about her famous relatives, and how famous they were, I really liked the book, she really let us into her head. I think it is important for spouses to know that when/if one of them gets sick, it is not the first time.

One of my favorite quotes was the following:
"My mother was serious, but there was nothing otherwise unusual in her manner or her voice to make the occasion for me. Nothing in her expression that I could file under "death". She might have known it would be easy with me. It wasn't that I didn't care or that I didn't love my grandmother; I was just not surprised by this. I knew misfortune was simply a stumble form a curb, a distracted turn on a highway, one careless doctor away. After she told me, I walked to the back bedroom to watch out of the window where a bus would pull up and my younger sister would step off. She was my grandmother's favorite and the kind of little girl who thought Fortune was personal. She thought misfortune happened to bad people, that if she smiled and made her bed she'd be spared. My little sister thought Fortune picked favorites."

I liked this because I've never thought about it that way, I've always thought like her little sister. Bad things happen to bad people, but maybe it isn't personal. It has nothing to do with who you are or how "good" of a person you are.

The other quote I liked is one I could relate to. "You're lucky if you have a place like Tante's apartment, a place where you can remember the time when you were safe. I found myself in Tante's foyer- the small room inside the front door before you get buzzed through the second- because I knew it would look the same as it did to me when I was five. Like two people watching the moon from opposite ends of the world. My five-year-old self and my thirty-one-year-old self staring at the same cracked pink-and-black tile, smelling the same mildew mixed with smells of old cooking." I definitely can call to mind specific places where I feel this way, I still go to them in person and in my mind. (less)

like · see review

Jul 10, 2012 Matthew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The parts of this book that were great were great, and then there was a lot of other stuff.

I don't know the exact page count on this one, as I read it on Kindle, but I'd put it somewhere around 300 pages. If I were the editor, I might have shaved off about 120 of those. I agree with other reviewers that say that it was significantly padded. Two hours or so of total reading time were probably spent on needless descriptions of details that don't add anything to the overall value of the story, and...more

like 1 like · see review

Jul 11, 2012 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I finished this book a few days ago, and still can't stop thinking about it. Ms. Radziwill is an excellent writer who told her story with heart and feeling. I have read quite a lot about the Kennedy and Radziwill families, and she brought a new and interesting perspective.

What I loved most about reading her story was how honest she was throughout - yet she never gossiped about her famous relatives. I thought she was forthcoming with information but also remained discreet in many ways. This is no...more

like 4 likes · see review

Oct 11, 2012 Whitney rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Carole Radziwell lets you into her private world as the caretaker wife of a cancer-stricken member of American royalty and best friend to the woman who married one of the world's most eligible bachelors.

Filled with love and tragedy, Radziwell's account of her marriage and life with Anthony (nephew to Jaqueline Kennedy)is straightforward and honest. She tells of not quite ever feeling welcomed into his family, how she clung to hope in the darkest hours of Anthony's illness, admits to her near bre...more

like · see review

Jan 07, 2013 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely loved this book. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I was familiar with Carole from The Real Housewives of NYC; I'm trying to wean myself off of those shows, but I'm glad I didn't as I was really impressed with Carole's lifestyle, her career and her story.

I was under the age of 10 when JFK Jr., Carolyn and her sister died, so I don't remember much about it, but I've always had a fascination with the Kennedys. This book was very insightful into the family (albeit more about Lee R...more

like · see review

Jul 02, 2012 Robyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had this on my to read list a few years ago and never got to it. Wanting to read it now since the author is on Real Housewives of NYC.

This was a very good book. Anthony Radziwill is the son of Jackie Kennedy Onassis' sister, Lee and a Polish prince, which made him a prince. He is the cousin of John Kenndy Jr and they are great friends so I liked the insight into him as well. Carole also ended up being best friends with John's wife, Carolyn Bessette. This memoir is as much an account of Carole'...more

like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 Dayna rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Dayna by: Kimberly Ehrhart

I don't really know how to say this nicely, so I'm just going to come out and say it: I don't really like Carole Radziwill. I did not enjoy her narrative voice at all. The whole time I was reading her memoir, I kept thinking to myself, I don't like you. She seems self-centered and definitely has a case of "poor me". Poor me, nobody in my husband's family likes me...poor me, my husband won't admit he's sick and take care of himself, so I have to do it...poor me, poor me, poor me. I'm not diminish...more

like 1 like · see review

Oct 19, 2012 Hilary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub

I had wanted to read this long before it was my book club choice for this month. I have heard so many people talk and describe the way this book made them feel, I just wanted to see for myself.

This haunting autobiography won the day. Carole Radziwill, a middle class or lower class working girl who is driven and stoic in her business and personal dealings, ends up marrying into Polish royalty and winds up being best friends with the Kennedy's - as close to royalty as we have ever had in America....more

like 1 like · see review

Oct 01, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was such a lovely, but heartbreaking, surprise. I typically don't gravitate toward memoirs, but I picked this up at the library on a whim and found myself immediately absorbed. Radziwill beautifully and eloquently tells the story of her life, her marriage, her husband's unsuccessful battle with cancer, and her friendship with John and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. I've long been an admirer of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's style, and this book offered a rare glimpse into who she was as a perso...more

like · see review

Sep 13, 2012 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

I have never watched Real Housewives of NY and I have never been especially interested in the Kennedy family, but I do love a good memoir. A friend of mine who knows I love memoirs recommended this book and I'm glad I read it. Carole tells her story of being from a working class town and moving to NYC to become a journalist where she meets her future husband, who happens to be a prince. Her husband's cousin is JFK Jr. and she develops an extremely close friendship with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy....more

like 1 like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (13)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

Add a comment

Genres

Autobiography > Memoir

60 users

Non Fiction

55 users

Book Club

15 users

Biography

14 users

Biography Memoir

10 users

Biography > Autobiography

4 users

Adult

3 users

History

2 users

New York

2 users

Drama

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Carole Radziwill

The Madcap Tales of My Year on the Real Housewives of New York Season 5

The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating: A Novel

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About What Remains: A M...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from What Remains: A Memoir...

“Caroline had a theory about relationships. 'You're much happier when you wait," she used to tell me. 'The ones that come to you are the only ones worth anything. It's like standing on the shore and spotting something in the water. You can splash around and try to get it, ot you can wait and see if the tide brings it in.” — 27 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love
avg rating	preview: What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love Goodreads rating: 4.07 (3876 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7153886-what-remains?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367827583l/7153886.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7153886-what-remains?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill[/url]

What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website