Whitcoulls Recommends: The Peacock and the Sparrow and Jackie Public, Private, Secret

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S.Berry. Like the books of David McCloskey of which I’m so fond (Damascus Station, Moscow X) – the author I.S.Berry also worked for the CIA, which gives this book a real sense of authenticity and knowing what she’s writing about. Shane Collins is a CIA operative based in Bahrain. He’s jaded, nearing compulsory retirement age and has no illusions about his own shortcomings. His job in Bahrain is to feed intel back to America about Iran’s involvement in an Arab spring type uprising but this is a really murky world where things might not be as they seem and everyone’s expendable. Throw in the 2011 implosion of Bahrain and it’s dynamite. If you like a top shelf spy thriller, look no further. This is the real deal. 

Jackie Public, Private, Secret by J. Randy Taraborelli. Much has been written about Jackie Kennedy Onassis, but this book expertly goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the woman who once said that she had three lives – public, private and secret. The author delves into them all, after decades of interviews with family members, friends, lovers and colleagues and the result is a very personal insight into the woman who married a serial philanderer who went on to become President; who suffered lifelong trauma after his assassination; and whose life was coloured by complex relationships, many of them under constant scrutiny by media and the world at large. It’s absolutely fascinating. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Every single day is a good day to buy a
book and to sit down and find somewhere quiet and
read it. And the best books you'll get at Witkels
and Joan mackenzie is Whitkels book Manager. Morning Joan, good morning. Look,
it's a hard thing. I know you've got hundreds and
hundreds of books to recommend, but you've got a couple
here which sound absolutely fabulous. Which is the first one.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
The first one is a novel called The Peacock and
the Sparrow by a woman named I s Berry. I
think her first name might be Elana, and listeners may
recall it. Some time ago I spoke about a book
called Moscow X by an author called David McCloskey, whose
books I just love. And I think that this author
and David McCloskey could be twins because they both work

(00:53):
for the CIA, and they both know the workings of
that organization inside out, and it comes through in spades
in their books. So in this new one, which is
her first book, The Peacock and the Sparrow, it's certain
Bey root during the Spring, and the lead character is
a guy called Shane Collins who's a CIA operative based
in Bahrain. And he's old and he's tired, he's jade,

(01:16):
and he's getting their retirement age, and he has no
illusion at all about his own shortcomings. But his job
in Bahrain is to feed intel back to the Americans
about the possible Iranian involvement in an Arab Spring type uprising.
But his superiors are concerned that his best informant might
be a double agent. And Shane goes on to meet

(01:39):
a woman, she's a local artist, and she completely bewitches him,
just at the time that he's realizing that his hierarchy
might not be squeaky clean in their dealings with Bahrain,
and they're certainly not squeaky clean, and they're dealings with him.
I loved it. It's a very murky world where everybody
is indispensable and you can't believe anything that you're told,

(02:02):
and nothing is quite as it seems. And when towards
the end of the book she throws in the implosion
of Bahrain back in twenty eleven, it's just like dynamite.
It's really extraordinary.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
It does sound really good in the fact that they've
worked in that area. That gives it a bit more
meat and potatoes. If you like your Jason Bourn Bond
type stuff that sounds like it wrong one, that's right,
good stuff that sounds like an absolute ripper. This next
one's the titles like a contradiction in terms. Isn't it
Jackie public Private? What does that mean?

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Jackie public? Private? Secret? Now? This is a book about
Jackie Kennedy written by a guy called Randy Taraborelli who's
done a number of profiles of famous people, including a
number of the Kennedy women, And for this book, he
spent thirty years talking to people who knew Jackie, her friends,
her family, her colleagues, her staff, all sorts of people,

(02:54):
and he mined the archives of the JFK Library and
he's put together a book about what her life was
really like from her point of view. She told one
of her lovers, and she did have a few, that
there were three sides to her if you like that.
There was the public side, the private side, and the
secret side, which is where the title comes from. And

(03:16):
you know, I read this and I thought, for a
woman who had such grace and poise. The amount of
trauma she had to deal with is absolutely extraordinary. There
was you know, JFK was a serial philander. After they're married,
she lost several babies, he was assassinated. Of course, she
married Onassus. She appeared not to be able to live
at all in the real world, and her financial advisors

(03:37):
were just appalled at the way that she was spending
her money. But then money and power became terribly important
to her, which helps explain why she married Onassus. But
then Onassis's children betrayed her by selling photo nude photos
of her to the paparazzi, which surfaced in nineteen seventy two.
So she had an awful lot to deal with during
her life. And I read this book and I thought,

(03:59):
you know, probably she had PTSD. I just don't know
how she managed to portray herself as being so serene
with all of the stuff going on in the background.
And the author in this book goes some way towards
explaining it all. It's absolutely fascinating.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, all that money, all that power, all that prestige,
and probably not that happy after all. So the first
book was The Peacock and.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
The Sparrow by I S. Sperry and the second one
Jackie Public Private Secret by Randy Tarabarelli.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
All right, I'm going to put you on the spot.
I've only got money for one. Which one would you recommend?

Speaker 3 (04:34):
Oh well, I'd recommend both, of course, but if you
like good spy story, goes with the first one.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Joe McKenzie, the book manager from Wickles, thank you so
much for your time this morning.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news Talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.