Credits: Ecostylia Media montage with blurred forest background; portrait Editions Albin Michel, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ecostylia met novelist Stéphanie des Horts on the occasion of the release of her latest book, which traces the story of John Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette. Having personally known a close friend of “John-John,” the author of La Panthère and Pamela takes us into the secret life of a mythical couple destined for greatness. This novel is already shaping up to be one of the most immersive of this early year.
Interview
Pierre-Antoine Tsady: What led you to write Carolyn and John, and how did you conduct your research to recreate their story accurately?
Stéphanie des Horts: I’m fascinated by the Kennedys. Always have been. By the father, who is the most enigmatic figure imaginable. By the mother, who is terribly unlikeable. And by most of their children, whose lives ended in tragedy. I wrote a book about Jackie Kennedy and her sister Lee Radziwill, Jackie and Lee. I have looked into different members of the family, and each time it was just as fascinating and intense. Carolyn and John are my generation; I remember exactly where I was when I learned of their deaths. It shook me to a degree you can’t imagine. I think my entire generation identified with Carolyn and John.
P.-A.T.: Can you describe the process from the initial idea to the book’s publication? Do you have any particular writing rituals?
S.d.H.: First, I have to find the subject; the subject is essential. I discuss it with my editor, and when we agree on the angle to take, I start gathering my sources. Books, newspapers, the internet. In this case, for Carolyn and John, the Paris Match archives were essential. There was also a lot of material on the internet. Google is pretty amazing for research. And then I have an extraordinary bookseller, Kogan at 17 rue du Bac, who hunts down out-of-print books for me. My writing ritual is 5 a.m. after coffee.
P.-A.T.: Who are your main literary or artistic influences, and how have they influenced your writing and especially Carolyn and John?
S.d.H.: Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, two English writers with incredible wit, with humor and cynicism that are essential in my eyes, and writing that is so fluid and fast. Vita Sackville-West too. It’s from her that I learned how to open a book in the middle of a scene. You don’t need to explain anything; the reader is already in the scene, they feel like they’re at the heart of the story even though they haven’t started reading yet. The Americans I admire above all are F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. I named my son Scott after my favorite author. And I wrote this book, which sheds light on his life, The Happy Few. It tells the story of the Murphys, who inspired Scott’s finest work, Tender Is the Night.
P.-A.T.: Have you had the chance to speak directly with French or even American figures mentioned in the book who worked with John Kennedy Jr.? If so, can you tell us more?
S.d.H.: I had the opportunity to meet people who knew Carolyn and John very well. One of my friends had an affair with John Jr. She told me about his gentleness, his kindness, his tenderness. A friend of mine at Cartier met the couple later, just before their deaths, and mentioned their many arguments. That made me very sad. It’s always difficult to meet people who knew your characters because it can distort your own judgment and the distance you can bring to understanding them.
P.-A.T.: Writing their story must have been moving. How did you handle the particularly touching moments?
S.d.H.: It’s true, there are moments that are difficult in a narrative, but surprisingly they’re not death scenes or scenes of tragedy. What’s very complicated are the love scenes; you have to be truthful in the emotion, and that’s not easy. In Carolyn and John, I wanted to build the tension, so the writing moves very fast and then just before the end, everything stops. Abruptly. And we shift into slow motion to evoke the last day, the last night, the last flight.
P.-A.T.: What challenges did you face writing about figures as public and scrutinized as Carolyn Bessette and John Kennedy Jr.?
S.d.H.: When I wrote Les Sœurs Livanos, I implicated Stavros Niarchos in the deaths of his two wives. I didn’t state anything as fact; I repeated what I could find in the newspapers. Yes, it’s very dangerous; I could have been sued by the Niarchos family’s lawyers, and they are terribly powerful. That’s why I will never write about the Grimaldis, because they always sue.
P.-A.T.: Was there a discovery during your research that particularly surprised you?
S.d.H.: I didn’t think John was so likable. He’s the ideal man for a woman, the kind you see in English films: he’s gentle, tender, faithful, he never gets angry, he doesn’t smoke, he likes sports. He’s there for a woman; he respects her. We all dream of a John Kennedy Jr. I think he was raised especially well by his mother. She had suffered so much from JFK’s appalling behavior with women.
P.-A.T.: In the narrative of Carolyn and John, which myths about this legendary couple did you want to dismantle?
S.d.H.: I don’t know how to dismantle; I only know how to build; I hate preconceived ideas, I love the truth. I present what I know, what I learn. At the time, we knew nothing, or very little, about Carolyn and John’s marriage. Today, there are books written by John’s closest friends; they waited about ten years before daring to give their version of the couple. These American books are the sources that allow me to offer my French readers a narrative in which everything is true.
P.-A.T.: What do you think of the conspiracy theories surrounding Carolyn and John’s tragic disappearance, especially those suggesting an assassination?
S.d.H.: It’s ridiculous. Conspiracy theorists are everywhere today, but at the time social media didn’t exist, and I have to admit I didn’t hear anything too stupid about the accident. Nothing was called into question. We knew right away it was a pilot error. I remember an immense grief that crossed the Atlantic and fell over Europe. Like a huge black veil, the curse! But it’s true that today, with social media, everything is questioned.
P.-A.T.: Since the publication of your books, what reactions have left the strongest impression on you, from both critics and readers?
S.d.H.: The reactions that stay with me are mostly happy ones. At book fairs, I meet readers who talk to me about happiness, the pleasure of reading, who tell me they’ve learned things. And people often tell me they love my world, which blends glamour, history, and aesthetics. That’s a real compliment.
P.-A.T.: After spending so much time on Carolyn and John, do you already have an idea for your next subject or historical figure to explore?
S.d.H.: No, I have no idea, I’m not in a hurry. I need to live with my characters for as long as the promotion lasts. Last year I released a novel called Cynthia. And I was already well into writing Carolyn and John when Cynthia came out. That messed up my promotion a bit. I no longer knew where I stood; I had to reread Cynthia because I was actually in two books at once, and that’s unsettling. Today I’m fully devoted to Carolyn and John.