This fascinating story of Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt is set during the chaotic years of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War. It is Hickok’s personal story, revealing Roosevelt as a complex, contradictory, and entirely human woman who is pulled in many directions by her obligations to her husband and family and her role as the nation’s First Lady, as well as by a compelling need to care and be cared for. Hickok is revealed as an accomplished journalist who, at the pinnacle of her career, gives it all up for the woman she loves. Then, as Roosevelt is transformed into Eleanor Everywhere/First Lady of the World, Hickok must create her own independent, productive life. Drawing on extensive research of the letters that were sealed for a decade following Hickok’s death, the author creates a compelling narrative: a dramatic love story, vividly portraying two strikingly unconventional women, neither of whom is satisfied to live according to the script society has written for her. Loving Eleanor is a profoundly moving novel that illuminates a relationship that few were privileged to see—a celebration of the depth and durability of women’s love. Persevero Press (perseveropress.com). —Suzie Lynde
