White Houses

Thank you Random House for the opportunity to read White Houses before it's publication date. As a fan of Eleanor Roosevelt's, I jumped at the chance to read this novelization of her love affair with Lorena Hickok, a well know journalist who evenutally moved into the White House as the "first friend." I had a vague awareness that Eleanor had been know to have female partners, but was not familiar with the details of her love life outside of her marriage to FDR. And I wanted to love this book - however, it left me wanting. 

White Houses is told from the perspective of Lorena, or Hick, as she is known, as she comes to comfort Eleanor in the days after FDR's death. Hick's experience of the present moment is interwoven with her memories of her childhood (abusive, neglectful) and her early relationship with Eleanor (passionate, largely accepted) and their eventual undoing. There are some fantastic quotes from Eleanor ("the function of democratic living is not to lower standards but to raise those that have been too low") and some juicy, heartbreaking, but ultimately not surprising tidbits about FDR's own extramarital romances, but ultimately I could not get deeply invested in the characters, however well-known or familiar they may be. Everything about the book carried the feeling of misty, water-colored memories, but perhaps because of that, made it difficult to connect with. There were a few standout moments of romance though, and one of the strengths of the book is the passion between Eleanor and Hick, and the ways in which Bloom describes the beauty of two middle aged women coming together in love, which I've not often encountered in my reading - not necessarily the sexualized part, but just the idea of seeing an aged woman's body as beautiful and sensual - that was powerful. 

Overall, a sweet read, but not one I'd likely revisit... although, maybe I'd see it differently after a more biographically focused book about Eleanor to fill in some of the space in her public life. 

3/5 stars.