Eleanor And Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady

(Paperback)

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In 1932, as her husband assumed the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt entered the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the First Lady with dread. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press: Lorena Hickok. Over the next thirty years, until Eleanor's death, the two women carried on an extraordinary relationship: they were, at different points, lovers, confidantes, professional advisors, and caring friends, and at every turn, the bond these women shared was grounded in their determination to better their troubled world.

Reviews

The love affair between first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hick Hickok has never been treated with as much care or attention as in Susan Quinns Eleanor and Hick. Here, Quinn deftly traces the dissimilar but converging paths of these two complex women and gives new life to their intimate, dynamic relationship, against a backdrop of tremendous social upheaval. NPR.org, Best Books of 2016

Splendid. . . . Written with style and verve, and vigorously researched . . . filled with delightful details and provocative musings.Blanche Wiesen Cook, Womens Review of Books


Fascinating.Susan Dunn, The New York Review of Books

Making sense of this famous relationship has been complicated for historians, and Quinn concedes the impossibility of knowing what, exactly, happened between the two women physically. But, drawing extensively on their letters, she makes a strong case that the bond they shared was indeed romantic. . . .The abiding impression of this book is the intricacy of Roosevelts intimate life.The New Yorker

A poignant account of a love affair doomed by circumstance and conflicting needs. Combining exhaustive research with emotional nuance, Quinn dives deep to convey the differing characters of president and first lady.Richard Norton Smith, The Wall Street Journal

CaptivatingIn prose that reads as fluidly and mesmerizingly as fiction, Quinn tells the story of the First Lady's marital discontent and determination to live an independent life despite her prominent position in the public eye, and of the 30-year-long partnership and love that unfolded between Roosevelt and HickokBeyond just a compelling love story, Eleanor and Hick brings to light a different side of the early-20th century White House, revealing the significant impact of this unconventional relationship on American political and cultural history. Harpers Bazaar, Best Books of 2016

An engrossing double biography. . . . Quinn brings new depth to their epic, three-decade-long love story. New York Post

Quinn writes about both women with great sensitivity, from the childhood wounds they both bore to their influence on one another as writers and social activists. Meticulously researched, engagingly written, and emotionally resonant, this is a welcome addition to the Roosevelt book shelf. The Boston Globe

A brisk, readable account of the intersection between these two women. New York Times Book Review

Quinn sorts through the over three thousand letters the two sent to each other honest, passionate and principled correspondence to create a fascinating picture of the power and joy of the womens subversive act and its beneficial impact on the country at large. Brit & Co.

Quinn has produced an intimate book, tender and wise.Stacy Schiff, The Washington Post
Fascinating.People

A delightful account.1843 (The Economist)

Apart from chronicling a beautiful and complex friendship, Quinn also makes a strong case here that Eleanor Roosevelt was the most politically significant first lady America has ever had. Bookpage

Eleanor and Hick marvelously weaves the lives of these two women together, showing their fierce independence and yet continual dependence on each other. The book also reflects a refreshing change in cultural opinion, most likely one that will usher in books on other historical homosexual relationships just as well-researched and kind. St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Quinn tells Eleanors always astonishing story from a freshly illuminating perspective and brings forward to resounding effect intrepid, eloquent, compassionate, and tough Hick. With episodes hilarious, stunning and heartbreaking, Quinns compellingly intimate chronicle tells the long-camouflaged story of a morally and intellectually spirited, taboo-transcending, and world-bettering love.Booklist

A well-researched dual biography. . . . Fast paced and engaging, this work will enthrall readers of presidential biographies and LGBTQ studies. Library Journal

Quinn deftly explores how the unlikely relationship evolved, relying on correspondence between the women, oral histories in archives, various government documents, and numerous other sources that allow readers to learn a great deal about normally private affairs. A relentlessly captivating study of two remarkable individuals who helped extend the roles of American women in the public policy realm.Kirkus Reviews (starred)

Susan Quinns tender book of love and loyaltyset during the most tumultuous time of the twentieth centuryreads like a whispered confidence. The forbidden relationship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and hardscrabble journalist Lorena Hickok is one of the great love affairs in history, and yet it has remained largely untold. Thanks to Quinn, their beautiful and courageous story is a secret no longer.Mary Gabriel, author of Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

In telling with vivid detail the story of a remarkable relationship between two strong women, Susan Quinn has provided a new way to look at some of the most momentous events of the twentieth century. Eleanor and Hick is delightful, moving, penetrating history.David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story

Eleanor Roosevelts love affair with ace AP reporter Lorena Hickok, carried on just outside public view during the most public years of their lives, fascinates and inspires in Susan Quinns irresistible telling.Eleanor and Hick is a powerfully moving and vital story that could not have been told in its day, and alters radically what we thought we knew about Americas most influential and best-loved First Lady.Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life

This is an important and probably unique biography in the history of the U.S. presidency. The special virtue ofEleanor and Hickis that Susan Quinn permits us to see how Eleanor Roosevelts long, intimate relationship with Lorena Hickok helped her become not just a First Lady but a great one: courageous, committed, compassionateand complicated. A triumph. Nigel Hamilton, author ofThe Mantle of Command

Author Bio

Susan Quinn is the author of Furious Improvisation- How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art Out of Desperate Times and Marie Curie- A Life, among other books. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, and other publications. She is the former president of PEN New England and lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts. From the Hardcover edition.