monicamjw's review
4.0
Very interesting look into the lives, times, and relationships of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickock. I found the subtitle - "The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady" - a bit off, however - while it certainly shaped Hick's life, my impression was it encouraged and supported E.R.'s more than "shaping" it.
magslyt77's review
3.0
3.5 - The title and summary of this book was definitely misleading. While the relationship between Roosevelt and Hickok was a common thread, it read as more one-sided in this portrayal. I still enjoyed learning more about the role that Eleanor Roosevelt had in National and global politics & of course humanitarian work, but wasn’t what I had anticipated when picking up this read.
sunflower_lavender's review against another edition
3.0
solid 3 star read, it was informative, I always love hearing sapphic love letters. didn't shy away from the bad parts of Eleanor and hick their antisemitism and racism. learned lots of stuff had a good time listening
carolineolesky's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
This was not bad but it also was not good. I think the author was really screwed by their editor. The book is tooo long and ends up being quite repetitive ( like the same point with the same quotes will be made just paragraphs apart) and some major world events of the time are just completely ignored (hello… the atomic bomb?) but overall it was nice to learn more about Roosevelt and Hick. Also lots of FDR drama which I was into.
peperopoi's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
The biggest strength of this book is how it reveals parts of Eleanor Roosevelt's life that were omitted from the public record, while contextualizing them in the greater historic narrative that most people already know — President Franklin Roosevelt's election, policies, and involvement in WWII. While most know that Eleanor was an exemplary activist and diplomat, she was also a person who contained all of the inherent complexities of the human experience. Every individual mentioned in this book (Eleanor, Franklin, their children, Lorena Hickock, etc.) is described with the humanity and respect that is often missing in history books. It's a great read and I think a true reflection of history.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Sexism, Child abuse, Car accident, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Alcohol, Incest, War, and Classism
witchboyofboston's review
History has erased a lot of sapphic context when it comes relationships, especially with people as eminent as first ladies. I praise Susan Quinn for bringing it back into the light as it was likely difficult to do so. However, the account seemed to drag in a lot of places where information was repeated and overall it depressed me (especially Eleanor's distance and Hick's fate).