Alicia Darr (born Barbara Kopczynska) is a Polish refugee who immigrates to the United States in 1950; she lands a summer job in the Kennedy household in Hyannisport, MA, and an introduction to the family's up-and-coming politician Jack. A relationship quickly blossoms while Alicia maintains her perpetual chameleon-like identity. When her past catches up with her, she leaves the East Coast for a fresh start in Hollywood, where an A-list circle of acquaintances grows to include Gary Cooper, Katharine Hepburn, and Marilyn Monroe. Alicia's journey continues through multiple love affairs (she marries into the Corning-Clark family and becomes quite wealthy), career attempts (writer, actress), and family reckonings that dovetail nicely with the ascent of the Kennedy dynasty in America. Gable (A Paris Apartment; I'll See You in Paris) seamlessly weaves this modern love story with history, ensuring romantic tension that doesn't end with the acceleration of Jack's career. VERDICT Based on real events, this compassionate and intelligent blend of Adriana Trigiani's All the Stars in the Heavens and Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.'s Empty Mansions offers massive cross-genre appeal. [See Prepub Alert, 11/28/17.]—Tina Panik, Avon Free P.L., CT

Gable (The Book of Summer) brings Polish émigré and artist Alicia Darr to vivid life in this sparkling novel, most famously her intense romance with then-congressman John F. "Jack" Kennedy in the early '50s. After time in a German Displaced Persons camp, Alicia takes a job as a housekeeper for the bustling, chaotic Kennedy family at their Hyannis Port, Mass., compound in 1950. Sparks fly instantly when she meets Jack. They plan to marry until Jack's father discovers that Alicia is Jewish. Brokenhearted, Alicia moves to Hollywood and soon befriends celebrities like Katherine Hepburn and Gary Cooper, eventually marrying actor Edmund Purdom and later the heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune, Alfred Corning Clark, only 13 days before his death. Gable also explores Alicia's time in Rome with eccentric artist Novella Palmisano, which leads to a few surprises in the third act. Brief interludes throughout detail the search for an heir to Alicia's fortune after her death in 2016. Gale elegantly captures the glitter, glamour, and gossip of 1950s Hollywood without resorting to melodrama, and, while JFK is a perennially fascinating figure, this is Alicia's story: a splendid portrait of a spirited survivor thriving in a man's world, even as memories of Jack, her only true love, linger. This bittersweet tale will enthrall readers. 100,000-copy announced first printing.(May)