“Lorena Hickok meets Eleanor Roosevelt in 1932 while reporting on Franklin Roosevelt’s first presidential campaign. Having grown up worse than poor in South Dakota and reinvented herself as the most prominent woman reporter in America, “Hick,” as she’s known to her friends and admirers, is not quite instantly charmed by the idealistic, patrician Eleanor. But then, as her connection with the future first lady deepens into intimacy, what begins as a powerful passion matures into a lasting love, and a life that Hick never expected to have. She moves into the White House, where her status as “first friend” is an open secret, as are FDR’s own lovers.
After she takes a job in the Roosevelt administration, promoting and protecting both Roosevelts, she comes to know Franklin not only as a great president but as a complicated rival and an irresistible friend, capable of changing lives even after his death. Through it all, even as Hick’s bond with Eleanor is tested by forces both extraordinary and common, and as she grows as a woman and a writer, she never loses sight of the love of her life."
I missed the meeting for the book as I was on holiday. I received a text saying "the book got 5.1" so I have very little to go on as to what the group actually made of White Houses. It immediately reminded me of After The Party, another book club book that didn't go down too well. Both books were slim things, set around the 1940s, about women and politics.
I now really want to know more about Eleanor Roosevelt. Was she as well loved as Bloom indicated? Did she really have a say in Article 24? Could she have campaigned for President? I love books that can be used as a platform for learning about something new. White Houses is just that.
Yet at the heart of it all is a love story and a supposed real one at that! This was a book about love in all its exquisite, beautiful, tortuous forms and it was during these parts that Bloom's writing shone. If someone ever wrote a last paragraph about me like the one in White Houses I would feel like I had succeeded in life.
Yet sometimes the meaning was slightly beyond me and I had to pay close attention to work out what was going on. This wasn’t helped by the timeline which flit about leaving me unclear about what was happening when in terms of Hick and Eleanor’s relationship. Not seeing things from Eleanor’s point of view meant that she was somewhat of an enigma to the reader. We were often left guessing about her true feelings and motivations. It felt like your understanding of her always remained just out of grasp. Like she was to Hick!
Roosevelt may have been the boss but Hick was the star of the show. I loved reading about her childhood and could have read a whole book about it. Lets not forget this is based on real life people! Bloom nailed the agonies of unrequited love, or star-crossed love if you will. I felt Hick’s heartache, I felt her despair and agonised over her non happily ever after ending.
The 5.1 indicates it wasn't well received. I didn't love it but it was slight and had glimpses of beauty and I would have awarded it higher.
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