Synopsis

In the charged political landscape of Reagan-era Washington, a young woman finds herself grappling with her fathers high-profile scandal and her own impending divorce, forcing her to confront her privileged childhood and navigate the notoriety of a personal friendship with the first family.I think about my glamorous wedding again. I imagine myself choking on a cheese ball, in my lace wedding gown, guests rushing over arguing about who does the best Heimlich maneuver, my face bright red from lack of oxygen. Then, as if that werent bad enough, I pass out on the dance floor of the tented tennis court where our lavish reception was held. My father, in his tux, at the mic, in front of the Les Brown Orchestra, telling everyone the marriage wont last and he might go to prison. The shattered fairy tale is on a loop inside my head. How did my life reverse itself so drastically? For Pamela Wick, President and Mrs. Reagan were simply Ronnie and Nancy, her parents best friends. What began with Pamelas mom and Nancy organizing the chili booth at their kids school fair in Los Angeles soon propelled Pamelas parents into pivotal roles that would help Reagan secure the California governorship and eventually the grand prize: the White House. Determined to win her parents approval as the perfect daughter, Pamela marries the son of Republican royalty and joins them in DC to begin her fairytale in the nations Capitolor so she thought. What follows is her firsthand look behind the scenes at the gilded age of the Reagan years in Washington, DCan era now long gone. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always insightful, the narrative chronicles her journey to penetrate Washington society at the highest levelsfrom Christmas Eve at her family home with President Reagan dressed as Santa Claus, to intimate dinners at the White House. But behind the golden gates, Pams marriage is unraveling, and her fathers high-profile political scandal threatens to destroy their carefully constructed life. Soon, shes trading in glitzy state dinners for congressional hearings attacking her father, and at the center of the Reagan revolution, Pams own personal uprising begins.

About The Author

Pamela Wick is a former nonprofit fund-raiser and public affairs executive in Washington, DC. She was the director of development at Phoenix Houses of California, raising funds for at-risk youth afflicted by substance abuse, and a director of major gifts at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Ms. Wick authored a play, produced at the Tamarind Theatre in Hollywood, and was a staff writer for several network television comedy series. She co-wrote Portraits in Black and White: Holocaust Survivors of Caf Europa, Volume II. Pam received her BA in art history and French literature from the University of California at Berkeley.