DC By the Book

Excerpt: As per usual, her mom's driver had dropped them all at Union Station a little before nine. And like it always did, the sight of D.C.'s gorgeous 1907 Beaux-Arts train terminal with its high arched ceilings and marble floors took her breath away.

Excerpt: She glanced out the window as the taxi drove through the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. All of Washington had been built on a swamp, but Foggy Bottom was so low-lying, fog often got trapped there, which resulted in the embarassing name. Not that there was any fog today. Just sun and humidity.

Excerpt: As she crossed the bridge into Georgetown, she focused on Rock Creek Park below her. The national park, twice as big as Central Park in New York, cut a lush, narrow swath running north-south through the middle of the city.

Excerpt: The original guest list had been closer to five hundred, but she'd told the girls she was sacrificing numbers for exclusivity by holding the party on the rooftop of the Hay-Adams, whose spectacular views of the White House and the Washington Monument more than made up for the limited capacity.

Excerpt: "It just so happens that Eric is going to meet with your dear mama tomorrow at ten thirty," the senator continued. "He's going to suggest they take a stroll around the Rose Garden while they talk..."

Excerpt: "We got in her car and she asked me to take her to Battery Kemble. She swore it was because she needed to talk." Jackie tried to swallow, but there was a giant lump in her throat. Battery Kemble was a secluded park near the party, tucked into a quiet suburban street, packed with kids playing soccer on Saturdays but deserted once the sun went down.

Excerpt: She thought back to last night and her meeting with Laura Beth and Lettie on the marble steps at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. The twenty-foot statue of the sixteenth president seated inside a faux Greek Doric temple looked down the grassy stretch of the Mall. History had been made over and over in that spot.

Excerpt: Reaching the Mall, Andrew turned left on Constitution Avenue, did a quick U-turn, and pulled up to the curb. The still surface of the long, rectangular Reflecting Pool projected a perfect mirror image of the Capitol at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other.

Excerpt: Jackie and Andrew walked -- side-by-side, but not touching, along one of the paths that crisscrossed West Potomac Park...Jackie never failed to be awed by the sight of the floodlit Capitol with its massive cast-iron dome. She turned around to look at the lights blinking on the pointed cap of the Washington Monument.

Excerpt: Hiding in the back of Ebenezer's Coffeehouse near Union Station, with her sunglasses on and a baseball cap pulled over her eyes, Jackie sipped her mocha latte and waited for Eric to tell her what the *hell* he wanted.

Excerpt: They were waiting for Jackie and her mother inside Cafe Milano, the Italian restaurant in Georgetown where you went if you wanted to see or be seen... the restaurant was famous, the food was amazing, and the servings were big enough that she'd be able to take some home.

Excerpt: [Jackie], Laura Beth, and Lettie had met up earlier for lunch at Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown to share a fiery Atomica pizza with salami and hot pepper flakes...

Excerpt: ...this stretch of upper Wisconsin Avenue was the Rodeo Drive of D.C. and her favorite place to shop.

Excerpt: Tiffany & Co. was abuzz when Laura Beth and Andrew walked inside, flanked by two Secret Service agents... They were picking up Andrew's real present for Jackie's birthday.

Excerpt: He looked around the terrace. The balcony, the length of the entire Kennedy Center, was cantilevered over Rock Creek Parkway with a breathtaking view of the river, the glittering lights of Georgetown, and the National Cathedral... the perfect romantic setting.

Excerpt: Washington was home to the Price family now. Every couple of weeks they'd eat at some popular local hangout, like Ben's Chili Bowl--a black-owned restaurant that was a Washington landmark.

Excerpt: When they turned left up Thomas Jefferson Street, the delicious smell of rich espresso and warm cookies wafted past them. Baked & Wired was more than just the little bakery it looked like on the outside. They roasted their own coffee beans and turned out some of the best cupcakes in the city.

Excerpt: Despite being home to the extremely rich and the very powerful, Georgetown was an eclectic mix of student bars and posh restaurants, exclusive boutiques and bargain fashion outlets, pricey antique stores and goth shops.

Excerpt: Miss Libby turned to the girls. "Why don't you take Whitney for a walk around Georgetown...? Show her Dumbarton Oaks and the canal..."

Excerpt: There was something about cemeteries. Something eerily calming. As she always did, Jackie felt the urge to hold her breath as she pulled into Oak Hill Cemetery... she recognized Taylor's headstone instantly.

Excerpt: Lettie lived in *reality*, and she knew it. *Reality* included living in a cramped two-bedroom apartment on Sixteenth Street in Mount Pleasant with her parents and her two sisters, Maribel and Christa... in *reality*, her largely Latino neighborhood was slowly being gentrified by lawyers, lobbyists, and other Democratic loyalists who swarmed into town.

Excerpt: ...they were seated next to each other in the car as the driver made his way the few short blocks to the Kennedy Center. The arts complex, a living memorial to JFK, staged everything from the latest Broadway shows to classical ballets and operas.