What Remains by Carole Radziwill and Challah
The recipe link
The memoir takes place in New England; however, I was tired of making recipes that are basically what we eat each day. Therefore, since the author was married to a Polish prince, I decided to do a Polish sweet bread – challah. On a different website, I read that a group of Jews, known as Ashkenazi, moved east and settled in the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth…hence the connection of challah to Poland. And…this bread is SO GOOD!!!! My 9 year old helped twist the braid on one. Just the two of us ate one entire loaf.
The book…
I hardly ever read memoirs. A friend gave me this to read so I read it. The book started somewhat slowly for me but then, through the development of the characters, you sort of get “trapped” in the story.
Carole DiFalco married Anthony Radziwill, a Polish prince (I’ll let you google that for yourself if you are interested in that history). Anthony’s mother’s sister was Jackie O, making him first cousin to JFK, Jr. (oh, and Caroline). The book is basically a memoir of her meeting her husband and befriending JFK, Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette. The beginning of the book begins with the infamous plane crash that took the lives of JFK, Jr., his wife, and her sister. The book ends with more details of that fateful night. Three weeks after the loss of her best friend (Carolyn) and her husband’s best friend (Jr.), her husband dies of cancer. By the way, everything I told you is on the back of the book so I did not reveal any spoilers…
JFK, Jr. was struggling with the upcoming death of his cousin/best friend. Not long before the crash, he was actually working on Anthony’s eulogy. I think we forget that “famous people” and those married to them are also humans who experience tragedy and death as “average” Americans do. This is part of the book she discusses…her struggles with finding peace through everything. I am thankful, however, that as a Christian, I have a hope and peace that this world cannot bring.
