Elizabeth Edwards' Resilience And Rielle Hunter's Revenge

Elizabeth Edwards — she of the terminal cancer and the cheating husband — is releasing her second book, Resilience, on May 12th. Reportedly, her husband’s mistress and possible babymama has some thoughts on that.

The publisher says:

The Broadway Books catalog says Edwards has written “an unsentimental and ultimately inspirational meditation on the gifts we can find among life’s biggest challenges.”

Her publicist adds that, unlike during her public appearances, she will make mention of her husband’s affair. Sort of.

The usually private Elizabeth Edwards, I am told, is definitely including her take on the relationship in her new book. Her publicist says she will be addressing John’s “affair and how she experienced it.”

Meanwhile, the mistress, Rielle Hunter, still hasn’t listed a father on the birth certificate, suffered through the death of the benefactor that was, reportedly, paying her bills and has told all her friends that Elizabeth’s husband is the father. She’s also, reportedly, not happy at all the sympathy that the cuckolded wife is getting from the public.

But, as one insider exclaimed yesterday: “What is Elizabeth thinking?” Certainly the minute she does any publicity for “Resilience,” the first questions will be about Rielle Hunter and her baby daughter. And don’t think for a minute that Hunter is going to allow herself to be portrayed as a groupie, sycophant or gold digger. Far from it. I’m told that if “Resilience” minimizes her at all, Hunter will not shy away from showing her own “resilience.” She’s said to be a smart, educated, articulate woman—not at all how she’s been portrayed so far in the supermarket tabloids.

Oh, ok, so if Elizabeth writes how much she was hurt that her husband had an affair — or if she doesn’t “admit” to the paternity of Hunter’s daughter which hasn’t been established or admitted to — Hunter’s going to come out swinging? Yeah, that’ll garner her the sympathy she’s so mad that Elizabeth is getting.

The entire article by Fox News’ Roger Friedman is snide, anonymously-sourced and brutish to read. Is he attempting to set up a cat fight? Report on it? It’s all very unclear. The only thing that I think he’s actually right about is this:

Indeed, how Elizabeth “experienced” may be just as the public did: Edwards suddenly exited the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on January 30, 2008. In early August, after much pressure and a sting by the National Enquirer, he admitted the affair. What he didn’t say: the end of his campaign came exactly one month before Hunter gave birth to baby Frances Quinn.

I doubt Elizabeth knows the full truth of the matter, particularly given John Edwards’ hole-filled “confession” last summer. So can she really write a tell-all? Or by acknowledging that she’ll say something is she really just trying to be able to say as little as possible, given that no one will quit asking?