Scan barcode
bargainsleuth's review
5.0
For this and other book reviews, check out www.bargain-sleuth.com. Find us on Facebook at Bargain Sleuth Book Reviews, and join our group Bargain Sleuth Kindle Deals.
I’ve read about sixty books on the various Roosevelts. Some were very good, like volume 1 of Blanche Weisen Cook’s Trilogy of Eleanor books, and some were just okay, like the books written by her children and grandchildren. So how did Eleanor by David Michaelis stack up?
According to the publisher, Eleanor is the first biography in six decades to talk about Eleanor Roosevelt’s whole life, from cradle to grave. I can attest to that. So many books about Eleanor end in 1945 when Franklin dies, as if the last, and I think, the most important years of her life, didn’t exist.
Eleanor was thoroughly researched and it shows. The book is 30% footnotes! From her difficult childhood with a beautiful, yet remote mother who dies when Eleanor is 8, to the beloved father, whose mental collapse and alcoholism kills him when Eleanor is 10, to her death in 1962, Michaelis has it all here.
Some of the quotes from letters just get to me. Like when Franklin and Eleanor are to wed, Theodore Roosevelt writes to Franklin about how the love of two people is more important than even the Presidency. Too bad Uncle Ted was wrong about Eleanor and Franklin’s relationship.
The problem was, Franklin didn’t like to confide in anyone, not especially Eleanor. He was aloof from everyone, even those he considered friends. Eleanor would spend much of the next fifteen years learning to accept that Franklin was not going to open up to her because it was not in his nature. The big takeaway here, as mentioned in the book several times, is that Eleanor and Franklin could not relax around one another.
Part of the problem was that Eleanor didn’t think too highly of herself. The woman who is famously quoted as saying “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent” long practiced this. She had terrible self-esteem problems. Married to a man who wouldn’t confide in her, having a mother-in-law take charge of her household. Yet she soldiered on, even after having six children in ten years, even after Franklin was caught stepping out with Eleanor’s own social secretary.
One thing I thought Michaelis did well in Eleanor was show how she evolved. She was raised with the same bigoted ideas that many elitist families grew up with. But the author then shows her growth and acceptance, and finally, her fight for the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, those who did not have voices, or whose voices had been silenced too long.
Eleanor’s special friendships are explored, and there is no salaciousness to them, just documenting what was known about them without further speculation.
Eleanor’s work post-White House gets its due. Her work with the United Nations on a Declaration of Human Rights, her TV program, her continued work on her newspaper column My Day, her work for the Democratic Party in the elections of 1952, 1956 and 1960 are all written about by Michaelis.
No stone was left unturned for this in-depth biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor is a 5-star book.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this Advanced Reader’s Copy. Eleanor goes on sale to the general public October 6, 2020.
I’ve read about sixty books on the various Roosevelts. Some were very good, like volume 1 of Blanche Weisen Cook’s Trilogy of Eleanor books, and some were just okay, like the books written by her children and grandchildren. So how did Eleanor by David Michaelis stack up?
According to the publisher, Eleanor is the first biography in six decades to talk about Eleanor Roosevelt’s whole life, from cradle to grave. I can attest to that. So many books about Eleanor end in 1945 when Franklin dies, as if the last, and I think, the most important years of her life, didn’t exist.
Eleanor was thoroughly researched and it shows. The book is 30% footnotes! From her difficult childhood with a beautiful, yet remote mother who dies when Eleanor is 8, to the beloved father, whose mental collapse and alcoholism kills him when Eleanor is 10, to her death in 1962, Michaelis has it all here.
Some of the quotes from letters just get to me. Like when Franklin and Eleanor are to wed, Theodore Roosevelt writes to Franklin about how the love of two people is more important than even the Presidency. Too bad Uncle Ted was wrong about Eleanor and Franklin’s relationship.
The problem was, Franklin didn’t like to confide in anyone, not especially Eleanor. He was aloof from everyone, even those he considered friends. Eleanor would spend much of the next fifteen years learning to accept that Franklin was not going to open up to her because it was not in his nature. The big takeaway here, as mentioned in the book several times, is that Eleanor and Franklin could not relax around one another.
Part of the problem was that Eleanor didn’t think too highly of herself. The woman who is famously quoted as saying “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent” long practiced this. She had terrible self-esteem problems. Married to a man who wouldn’t confide in her, having a mother-in-law take charge of her household. Yet she soldiered on, even after having six children in ten years, even after Franklin was caught stepping out with Eleanor’s own social secretary.
One thing I thought Michaelis did well in Eleanor was show how she evolved. She was raised with the same bigoted ideas that many elitist families grew up with. But the author then shows her growth and acceptance, and finally, her fight for the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, those who did not have voices, or whose voices had been silenced too long.
Eleanor’s special friendships are explored, and there is no salaciousness to them, just documenting what was known about them without further speculation.
Eleanor’s work post-White House gets its due. Her work with the United Nations on a Declaration of Human Rights, her TV program, her continued work on her newspaper column My Day, her work for the Democratic Party in the elections of 1952, 1956 and 1960 are all written about by Michaelis.
No stone was left unturned for this in-depth biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor is a 5-star book.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this Advanced Reader’s Copy. Eleanor goes on sale to the general public October 6, 2020.
shareen17's review
3.0
Fascinating person, but I didn't love the writing style. It felt well-researched and included a lot of facts. It sometimes felt more like a list of facts than a story well-told.
j_m_alexander's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
A well told, well paced, biography of a complicated woman that I greatly admire on the whole.
<blockquote>...“perhaps because much further back I had had to face certain difficulties until I decided to accept the fact that a man must be what he is, life must be lived as it is… and you cannot live at all if you do not learn to adapt yourself to your life as it happens to be.”</blockquote>
Michaelis provides an unvarnished look at the child, student, wife, mother, lover, 1st lady, activist, and US delegate to the United Nations. The Roosevelts had a singular and immeasurable impact on the United States and the world, but Eleanor was the real progressive of the family (I would argue the indelible conscience), fighting for individual rights and allowing herself to evolve over time. The most intriguing parts of this book to me were likely the most personal, and that is likely because these areas were the least explored and most likely to be previously misinterpreted. Eleanor was imperfect and while often ahead of time she was nonetheless molded by those times. She was an absolute force.
<blockquote>...“perhaps because much further back I had had to face certain difficulties until I decided to accept the fact that a man must be what he is, life must be lived as it is… and you cannot live at all if you do not learn to adapt yourself to your life as it happens to be.”</blockquote>
Michaelis provides an unvarnished look at the child, student, wife, mother, lover, 1st lady, activist, and US delegate to the United Nations. The Roosevelts had a singular and immeasurable impact on the United States and the world, but Eleanor was the real progressive of the family (I would argue the indelible conscience), fighting for individual rights and allowing herself to evolve over time. The most intriguing parts of this book to me were likely the most personal, and that is likely because these areas were the least explored and most likely to be previously misinterpreted. Eleanor was imperfect and while often ahead of time she was nonetheless molded by those times. She was an absolute force.
811laurendawson's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.0
I liked that this book gave a great picture of Eleanors character and her voice. I enjoyed the incorporation of letters to reflect her thoughts and emotions. I did overall feel that the book lacked clear historical detail and context such as dates, places, and the background of people she interacted with/clear introduction of new people in her life.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, War, Abandonment, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, Classism, Bullying, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Chronic illness
triqster's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
katemoxie's review
2.0
I found this book disjointed. Too much jumping from here to there - as in 1960 in one paragraph and 1956 in the next.
A family tree would have been very helpful for trying to figure out who fit in where.
A family tree would have been very helpful for trying to figure out who fit in where.
paigewetzel's review
4.0
This I thought for me because I don't typically gravitate towards biographies. Like at all. But this was a good one. I knew essentially nothing about Eleanor Roosevelt before reading this and now I understand the iconic nature of her place in US history. It's interesting how she was so solitary in so many ways throughout her life and how she stands alone in such a monumental legacy. I appreciated the mix of emphasis on her relationships, world-changing activities, and overarching politics. I felt oriented to her world but not overwhelmed with information.