A Moving Memoir About Love And Loss

Telling the heartbreaking story of lost love is an emotional and painful experience, particularly when the object of the narrative, now dead, was one of the world’s most famous and celebrated men—a man who happened to be an heir of what is perhaps the most powerful and tragic family in American history.

Much has been written about John F. Kennedy Jr., but perhaps no one has truly captured the essence of the man more than Christina Haag in “Come to the Edge.” In her New York Times-best-selling memoir, Ms. Haag gracefully and poetically tells the story of her life, and her five-year love affair with Mr. Kennedy.

Those looking for a tell-all full of salacious details will not be satisfied by this book, which Ms. Haag—who grew up spending summers with her family in a rambling farmhouse on Quantuck Bay in Quogue—wrote during extended periods of time in Montauk and Sag Harbor.

“I was so glad to make the decision to write it out here. It would’ve been a different book if I wrote it anywhere else,” she said over a late lunch at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor earlier this month.

But for those readers who love a good love story, or who have a curiosity about the true essence of the man who was in the public eye his entire life, “Come to the Edge” is a riveting read. Laying the bones of her life bare, in the book, Ms. Haag—an accomplished actress whose privileged Manhattan upbringing afforded her the same social circles as Mr. Kennedy and many other scions of the wealthy—tells a simple story that is relatable to just about anyone who has ever experienced love and loss.

Sitting down to write wasn’t easy, but Ms. Haag said that she was compelled to tell her tale nonetheless.

“I wanted the reader to feel, to sense, to taste the experience, almost as if it were happening to them,” she said. “I wanted the story of my life to include the writing of the book.”

One of the biggest takeaways from “Come to the Edge” is that yes, Mr. Kennedy was one of the most famous people on the planet, but he was also a fairly regular guy who was born into extraordinary circumstances.

“The mirror of celebrity that he experienced, I appreciated how gracefully he walked through life never affected by it.” Ms. Haag said of her former beau. “He was still the boy next door.”

In the book, she described what it was like to live such a life in the public eye, oftentimes reported through a very distorted lens. A memorable story she tells is of the 1978 after-party at Le Club for Mr. Kennedy’s 18th birthday, the site where an iconic image of Mr. Kennedy was snapped by paparazzi as he was leaving the party.

“The next day I woke up, my father asked about the party,” she wrote.

“‘Did you have fun? It’s all in the papers.’ He smiled and tossed the Daily News in front of me. John in dark glasses. The silk scarf, the drunken buddy, the comely girlfriend.”

“I was confused. It appeared sordid in black and white. I had been standing across the street when the picture was taken ... ‘That’s not how it was,’ I told my father. ‘That’s not everything.’”

Much has been made of Mr. Kennedy’s wild and risk-taking side, a cause for consternation for Ms. Haag, who said that the title of her book has often been mistaken. Hint: It’s not about living dangerously, she said.

“It’s about love. You have to jump, you have to have trust and faith,” she said. “That’s what the book is about.”

And though the retelling of such intimate memories was difficult at times, the author said the process was well worth it.

“Writing gave me a lot of clarity about that time,” she said. “That was the gift in the end.”

Christina Haag will visit the East Hampton Library on Saturday, August 20, at 1 p.m. Seating is limited. Call 324-0222 for reservations. She will also give a reading at Books & Books in Westhampton Beach on Saturday, August 27, at 5 p.m. Call 998-3260 or visit booksandbookswhb.com.