Marilyn-Jackie 'Letters' as Novel

That's the intriguing notion set forth in a book that Tom Dunne, who has his own imprint at St. Martin's Press, just bought from London-based agent Ed Victor. It's the brainchild of British journalist and celebrity biographer Wendy Leigh, who has written an epistolary novel in which the late First Lady and the glamorous actress who supposedly had an affair with JFK exchange their views on him and other matters. It supposes that the letters between these two iconic figures were kept by Monroe and found long after her death by a researcher, and it comes with a scholarly commentary attached, pointing out significant contemporary references. Dunne found it "a very cool idea," and having seen sample pages at the Frankfurt fair, when Victor first showed them around, came up with a deal for U.S. rights. It's tentatively titled The Secret Letters: The Correspondence Between Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy and Dunne plans to publish this coming fall.