White Houses

White Houses by Amy Bloom tells the story of Lenora Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt, living and cavorting together between the White House in Washington, DC and a home called Little White House on Long Island, NY.

This is the imagined story of Eleanor Roosevelt and her long time friend and possible lover Lorena Hickok.  Told from the perspective Hickok, we hear about her childhood and how she came from nothing to become a newspaper reporter.  Then how she met Eleanor Roosevelt and became her special friend, living in the White House and traveling with the First Lady.

This is the story of their relationship.  Lenora Hickok grew up with a violent father and her mother, who was too timid to protect Lenora and her two younger sisters from him.  Her mother also dies when Lenora is ten years old.  Her father brings home a new wife and then they decide to leave the state and leave Lenora to work in servitude, taking her younger sisters with them.  She never has a relationship with her family again.  Through a series of different odd experiences she ends up working for a newspaper and becomes a reporter.  When she gets the opportunity to cover the presidential election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  She meets Eleanor and their relationship begins.

It does seem from articles and letters of the time that Teddy had his affairs and Eleanor had her interactions within the marriage and that the couple had an agreement.  They gave each other the room for these outside affairs.

Interesting and also remembering it is a novel wondering how much is true from letters and records and how much is embellished.  Not as shocking, of course, as it may have been then.

I Fell Into A Volcano: And Other "Coming of Age" Disasters

A friend suggested this book and I read it..but I probably would never have picked it up otherwise.  I do not know Lynne Gassel and so reading her personal life would not have pulled me in.  She is not a celebrity but once I was reading I will say that because she is a woman in my age group and lived a similar life in the suburbs growing up and talks about her relationships to her parents, her husband and her children, it was sort of relatable to my life and it was interesting.

This is the personal story of Lynne Gassel's life.  Looking back to her childhood and her relationship to her family and how affects her relationships with her husband and children.  Also how it informs all the aspects of her thinking.  She discloses so many private moments where you can feel empathy for her and the people in her life.  There are some moments you can relate to as a spouse and parent.  There are points you can understand as a fellow baby boomer, but there are some topics, like current political commentary that seem to get too involved in the weeds for this book. 

I was uncomfortable with her political statements, not because I disagree with them, but that they seemed unnecessary to the overall story and it would be harder to recommend the book to others.

I feel for her as a mother who had trouble with her children.  It is always interesting to read about other people's lives.  In a voyeuristic sort of way, watching others and feeling sorry for them but glad you did not go through that experience.  Also as a way to compare your life and see if things are normal, better than you thought or at least not as bad as you felt. 

I am always amazed that someone can put themselves out there and share intimate details, I do hope it was cathartic for the author.

Give The Devil His Due

This is number eight, I believe, in the Rowland Sinclair mystery series.  I have been really enjoying all of them and look forward to the next one as soon as I have finished reading one.

Rowland and his friends, Clyde and Milton have gown on me. I pine right along with Rowland as he pursues his love interest, Edna.  I love all their misadventures.  I also love Rowland's brother and his family of young nephews.  Oh to live in the wealthy class of Australian's society and attend all the fancy events they participate in.  To paint like Rowly and sculpt like Edna.  To eat the meals prepared by the housekeeper and cook, Mary Brown.  This is the life!  This time Rowland is going to drive his German Mercedes in a charity race.  The car has been a problem for many books, because it is a German car.  His older brother, Aubrey was killed int he first world war and German products are not popular.  His yellow car stands out and someone has their sights set on him.   Milton is also being targeted for a murder he did not commit and there are many red herrings unfolding to keep you in suspense through the whole book.

Not only are you enjoying a fun, fascinating mystery, you are learning Australian history leading up to World War 11.  You are learning about life in Australia and how they were looking at Hitler and Nazi, Germany from that side of the world. 

It is a matter of life and death and you are routing for these lovable characters all the way through.