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Title: Two extraordinary Everywomen
Review: Mulvaney has taken two of the most famous women of the last century and compared and contrasted them in the roles all woman are cast in (Maidens, Mothers, Myths). It's a fabulous idea and makes for very entertaining reading. While there is little new in this book about the lives of either of these well-documented ladies, the parallells Mulvaney draws between them gives the familiar information a fresh spin. (In particular, I'd never considered how similar their relationships to their formidable mothers-in-law were!) The cultural comments are interesting, too. Jackie maintained her (stereotypically English) "stiff upper lip" to the very end, while Diana took the more typically American, open approach to her life and her problems. And that's why I believe these women continue to fascinate. As much as we read about Jackie, we'll never feel we knew her -- she's an enigma we keep trying to solve. And it was Diana's very openness and accessibility that made her so appealing.
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