A remarkable history with elements of both In the President’s Secret Service and The Butler, The Residence offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas. America’s First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family. These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion’s 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases, and prepare everything from hors d’oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level’s basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love. Combining incredible first-person anecdotes from extensive interviews with scores of White House staff members—many speaking for the first time—with archival research, Kate Andersen Brower tells their story. She reveals the intimacy between the First Family and the people who serve them, as well as tension that has shaken the staff over the decades. From the housekeeper and engineer who fell in love while serving President Reagan to Jackie Kennedy’s private moment of grief with a beloved staffer after her husband’s assassination to the tumultuous days surrounding President Nixon’s resignation and President Clinton’s impeachment battle, The Residence is full of surprising and moving details that illuminate day-to-day life at the White House.


本書具備《我的老闆是美國總統：秘勤探員獨家內幕》和《白宮第一管家》的精彩特點，由甘迺迪政府到歐巴馬政府期間的白宮工作人員親述，娓娓道來一段不平凡的歷史。美國第一家庭有許多鮮人知的一面，唯有每天供餐及鋪床的內部人員才能一窺究竟。本書有豐富的故事情節與細微之處，內容不僅充滿張力、幽默風趣又感人肺腑。服務總統及第一家庭的侍者、管家、廚師、花匠、守衛、技師等親口描述，更讓白宮的日常生活一躍紙上、活靈活現。白宮盡責的工作人員，一同維護六層樓官邸裡的 132 間房間、35 間廁所、28 個壁爐、3 座電梯和 8 座樓梯。他們也負責準備餐點，從私人聚會裡的茶點到豐盛至極的國宴，都是他們辛勤的成果。每天，他們在地下室的廚房裡分享故事、交換秘密、成為終生摯友，甚至發展戀情。本書作者訪問多位白宮工作人員，獲得諸多趣聞軼事，其中許多人更是第一次開了金口，作者除了訪問也研究相關檔案，忠實呈現白宮工作人員的甘苦。書中不僅訴說第一家庭與工作人員的親密情誼，也描寫數十年來，白宮裡的緊張情勢如何影響這些工作人員。本書內容跌宕起伏，紀錄許多引發軒然大波的事件與動人的故事，從雷根總統時期女管家與技師的戀情，到甘迺迪總統遇刺後，第一夫人賈桂琳向一位交情深厚的工作人員傾吐苦楚，再到尼克森總統請辭、柯林頓總統彈劾案，這些故事仍牽動著讀者的心，而每段意外插曲和感人之處，至今，仍是白宮日常生活中的亮點。