The modern obsession with the private lives of public figures has become retrospective. Jed Mercurio’s third novel, American Adulterer, which purports to be historically trustworthy, is an account of John Fitzgerad Kennedy’s affairs, flings and lustful ruminations during his time in office.

JFK, it seems, was not only possessed of a sexual appetite that would make most Australian politicians blush, but was quite unconscionable about it. Marilyn Monroe is the first in a long line of coital partners for the head of state, which includes many public figures and submissive white staff members.

The political happenings of the day, such as the Cuban missile crisis, are mere background noise in the narrative. The 35th President of the United States is depicted, in spite of everything, as virtuous, reasonable, seductive, calculating (almost frighteningly so) and spiritedly American. At no point does Mercurio risk posthumously demonising Kennedy, leaving the impression that family and country always came first for the ruler of the free world. The final product is a sympathetic portrait of one of America’s most popular leaders, wrought in strikingly hard-edged prose.