The Second Life of Jack and Jackie: A Novel

By Melissa Kaplan

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy narrowly escapes an assassination attempt while riding through the streets of Dallas with his wife, Jacqueline, by his side.  The next day, realizing how fortunate he is to be alive, Jack and Jackie—who have become more deeply connected after several months of personal tragedy—reconnect and embark on the next thirty years of their marriage together. 

 But no love story lasts forever.  When Jackie is diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1994, she and Jack must figure out how to say goodbye to their life and to each other—and Jack must find a way to live without the one person he always believed he simply could not lose.

 The Second Life of Jack and Jackie is a story of love and second chances that examines what it means to spend your life with someone, knowing how fragile and tenuous life is.  When one person in a relationship is almost certain to leave first—no matter how it happens--can there really be such a thing as a happy ending?  Or, despite loss and grief being an inevitable part of life, maybe love will still find a way to triumph in the end?