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Eleanor in the Village
A “riveting and enlightening account” ( Bookreporter ) of a mostly unknown chapter in the life of Eleanor Roosevelt—when she moved to New York’s Greenwich Village, shed her high-born conformity, and became the progressive leader who pushed for change as America’s First Lady.
Hundreds of books have been written about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure. And, not much is known about why in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom—communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this “immersive…original look at an iconic figure of American politics” ( Publishers Weekly ), Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.
A captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with issues of marriage, motherhood, financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.
When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists, but there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village. Unlike the flappers in the 1920s, the New Women had a much more serious agenda, organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.
Including the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation—emotionally, politically, and sexually—and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary life.
Hundreds of books have been written about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure. And, not much is known about why in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom—communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this “immersive…original look at an iconic figure of American politics” ( Publishers Weekly ), Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.
A captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with issues of marriage, motherhood, financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.
When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists, but there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village. Unlike the flappers in the 1920s, the New Women had a much more serious agenda, organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.
Including the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation—emotionally, politically, and sexually—and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary life.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 30, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
May 27, 2021
My Interest
If you’ve read here much, you know I collect all the books on the Roosevelts. Eleanor is a particular favorite of mine. This book promised a look at Eleanor’s often overlooked life apart from Franklin in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. It seemed to promise new information and new insights, so I bought a hardcover copy for my collection and sat down to read it.
The Story
In spite of the premise, the book starts back with the Vanderbilts and New York in the Gilded age–a chapter that ends by mentioning Eleanor’s parents and speculating that “the sparkling events at the Vanderbilt ball would quite naturally have appeared to Anna and Elliott [Roosevelt] to be another moment emblematic of untold promise and beauty ahead for the two of them….” (p.7). All of Eleanor’s life up to the time of Greenwich Village–the supposed focus of the book–is replayed. All the stories of her sad childhood and early marriage to Franklin are trotted out.
Eventually, we get to the short chapters on Eleanor’s actual time spent with Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman, with Esther Lape and Elizabeth Reed–the women who helped Eleanor “find herself” and, in the case of Nan and Marion, who formed a household with her at Val-Kill on the Hyde Park (Springwood) estate. The actual information give was sparse. It was the same with her life after FDR’s death–sparse. The final chapter of her life, living in the same building with David Gurewitsch and his wife had barely more information.
My Thoughts
I really sat there wondering why this book was published. The notes on sources were few and far between. She makes assertions such as these (below) without backing them up with any evidence. (These are just two I selected to illustrate this–there were more.)
“One might even legitimately wonder if FDR ever would have become president were it not for Eleanor’s ongoing and transformative experiences in the Village.” (p. 79)
It was Louis Howe who “made” FDR. Eleanor certainly helped, but most of what she did came after polio. FDR started in politics when he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and his ambition to be president came way before that.
“Louis Howe and Franklin joked that the women were ‘she-males,’ a loaded prases that conveyed their belief that Eleanor and her women friends would never be equal to men at home or in politics.”
WOW. Way to read into what was then a contemporary (if very mocking) term for lesbians! Franklin and Howe were far too astute to not see how useful Eleanor and the League of Women Voter’s cofounder Esther Lape, her partner, respected attorney Elizabeth Read, and Head of the Women’s Division of the NY Democratic Party Nancy Cook were to getting the newly enfranchised women voters on their side to think anything of the kind! Nothing is offered as proof of this meaning of the ‘she-male’ phrase.
The tone of the book is that of a biography for the middle grades to junior high school-age students. In fact, I even went back to Amazon to see if I had missed it being designated as such!
This book, like nearly all biographies of Eleanor since the “revelation” many years ago of her apparent love affair with Lorena Hickok, mostly catalogs the possible romantic interests of Eleanor after the breakdown of her marriage to FDR. In a book that champions the “New Woman” and the liberation of same-sex couples, it was humorous to see the author fall back on the old chestnut that Earl Miller (ER’s bodyguard), Joe Lash, and David Gurewitsch were all “surrogate sons” because they were younger than Eleanor. The chemistry between ER and Earl is well documented, the other two probably were platonic, but it is the idea that rankles.. Of course, the surveillance by the FBI was also mentioned. The FBI did not like Joe Lash because of what they saw as his communist sympathies. We learn so little in this book about Eleanor–that is the shocking take-away.
My Verdict
If you know nothing of Eleanor Roosevelt, this is a short, introduction to some aspects of her life background, and times. It is a pleasant, fast, read that can be finished in an afternoon. If you are looking to really know about Eleanor in any way but the most superficial, see Blanche Weissen Cook’s great biography of Eleanor, or Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time.
2.5
Eleanor in the Village by Jan Jarboe Russell
If you’ve read here much, you know I collect all the books on the Roosevelts. Eleanor is a particular favorite of mine. This book promised a look at Eleanor’s often overlooked life apart from Franklin in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. It seemed to promise new information and new insights, so I bought a hardcover copy for my collection and sat down to read it.
The Story
In spite of the premise, the book starts back with the Vanderbilts and New York in the Gilded age–a chapter that ends by mentioning Eleanor’s parents and speculating that “the sparkling events at the Vanderbilt ball would quite naturally have appeared to Anna and Elliott [Roosevelt] to be another moment emblematic of untold promise and beauty ahead for the two of them….” (p.7). All of Eleanor’s life up to the time of Greenwich Village–the supposed focus of the book–is replayed. All the stories of her sad childhood and early marriage to Franklin are trotted out.
Eventually, we get to the short chapters on Eleanor’s actual time spent with Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman, with Esther Lape and Elizabeth Reed–the women who helped Eleanor “find herself” and, in the case of Nan and Marion, who formed a household with her at Val-Kill on the Hyde Park (Springwood) estate. The actual information give was sparse. It was the same with her life after FDR’s death–sparse. The final chapter of her life, living in the same building with David Gurewitsch and his wife had barely more information.
My Thoughts
I really sat there wondering why this book was published. The notes on sources were few and far between. She makes assertions such as these (below) without backing them up with any evidence. (These are just two I selected to illustrate this–there were more.)
“One might even legitimately wonder if FDR ever would have become president were it not for Eleanor’s ongoing and transformative experiences in the Village.” (p. 79)
It was Louis Howe who “made” FDR. Eleanor certainly helped, but most of what she did came after polio. FDR started in politics when he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and his ambition to be president came way before that.
“Louis Howe and Franklin joked that the women were ‘she-males,’ a loaded prases that conveyed their belief that Eleanor and her women friends would never be equal to men at home or in politics.”
WOW. Way to read into what was then a contemporary (if very mocking) term for lesbians! Franklin and Howe were far too astute to not see how useful Eleanor and the League of Women Voter’s cofounder Esther Lape, her partner, respected attorney Elizabeth Read, and Head of the Women’s Division of the NY Democratic Party Nancy Cook were to getting the newly enfranchised women voters on their side to think anything of the kind! Nothing is offered as proof of this meaning of the ‘she-male’ phrase.
The tone of the book is that of a biography for the middle grades to junior high school-age students. In fact, I even went back to Amazon to see if I had missed it being designated as such!
This book, like nearly all biographies of Eleanor since the “revelation” many years ago of her apparent love affair with Lorena Hickok, mostly catalogs the possible romantic interests of Eleanor after the breakdown of her marriage to FDR. In a book that champions the “New Woman” and the liberation of same-sex couples, it was humorous to see the author fall back on the old chestnut that Earl Miller (ER’s bodyguard), Joe Lash, and David Gurewitsch were all “surrogate sons” because they were younger than Eleanor. The chemistry between ER and Earl is well documented, the other two probably were platonic, but it is the idea that rankles.. Of course, the surveillance by the FBI was also mentioned. The FBI did not like Joe Lash because of what they saw as his communist sympathies. We learn so little in this book about Eleanor–that is the shocking take-away.
My Verdict
If you know nothing of Eleanor Roosevelt, this is a short, introduction to some aspects of her life background, and times. It is a pleasant, fast, read that can be finished in an afternoon. If you are looking to really know about Eleanor in any way but the most superficial, see Blanche Weissen Cook’s great biography of Eleanor, or Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time.
2.5
Eleanor in the Village by Jan Jarboe Russell
July 8, 2021
Always love to read about the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. She must have been such an interesting person!
Read
April 20, 2021Thin and the claim is not proven, and yet I enjoyed it and found the material fascinating.
September 4, 2022
The book is perfectly fine, but one did sort of want a few more specifics about Mrs. Roosevelt's time in the Village. It's really a rather short mini-bio covering her whole life. My big takeaway is that she was VERY close with a LOT of progressive lesbians, which of course makes me love her even more than I did already for her commitment to Civil Rights, The New Deal, and various Noble Sentiments.
March 10, 2021
Eleanor in the Village contends that Eleanor Roosevelt's association with New York's Greenwich Village and the friends she made there had a major impact on the formation of her personal identity outside of her marriage to Franklin. I had hoped to learn details about her activities in the Village.
Jan Jarboe Russell gives readers a brief biography of Eleanor's entire life, which for a reader like myself who has read numerous books on Eleanor and Franklin was a recap of known history. She does give space to the many friendships Eleanor made with Village friends, particularly lesbian friends who were very special to her. She shared her private getaway Val Kill with one lesbian couple, and taught in a school opened one of the partners. A female journalist became her close friend and lived in the White House for a time.
Russell mentions the activities that spurred Hoover to open a secret FBI file on her: support of unions and workers and civil rights activities considered communist or socialist in those days. Pages of those files are still unlocked.
I wanted to know more about her activities in the village. I was disappointed by the lack of depth. Russell mentions that Eleanor knew writers living in the Village, like Thomas Wolfe. I sure wanted to know more about this!
An interesting point is Russell's interpretation of Eleanor's relationships with both lesbian friends, like Lorena Hick, and men she loved, including her body guard, doctor, and Joe Lash. As she does also with Franklin's relationship with Missy LeHand, his 'office wife'. Most biographers admit there is no concrete evidence that any of these relationships were sexual in nature or romantic on the Roosevelts' side. Russell is surer.
What is clear is that after Eleanor discovered her husband's affair with her personal secretary, she formed her own 'families' to love, becoming closer to these people than her own children.
Eleanor's story of personal growth is inspiring. That the 'ugly' child from a dysfunctional family, whose mother-in-law ruled her home and life, and whose husband betrayed her, turned out to be a respected, world renowned humanitarian leader could be a fairy tale. But there was no magic involved. With dear friends and strength of will, Eleanor transformed her life.
I would recommend this biography to those who are not familiar with Eleanor Roosevelt. In fact, it would be a good first biography for young adults.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Jan Jarboe Russell gives readers a brief biography of Eleanor's entire life, which for a reader like myself who has read numerous books on Eleanor and Franklin was a recap of known history. She does give space to the many friendships Eleanor made with Village friends, particularly lesbian friends who were very special to her. She shared her private getaway Val Kill with one lesbian couple, and taught in a school opened one of the partners. A female journalist became her close friend and lived in the White House for a time.
Russell mentions the activities that spurred Hoover to open a secret FBI file on her: support of unions and workers and civil rights activities considered communist or socialist in those days. Pages of those files are still unlocked.
I wanted to know more about her activities in the village. I was disappointed by the lack of depth. Russell mentions that Eleanor knew writers living in the Village, like Thomas Wolfe. I sure wanted to know more about this!
An interesting point is Russell's interpretation of Eleanor's relationships with both lesbian friends, like Lorena Hick, and men she loved, including her body guard, doctor, and Joe Lash. As she does also with Franklin's relationship with Missy LeHand, his 'office wife'. Most biographers admit there is no concrete evidence that any of these relationships were sexual in nature or romantic on the Roosevelts' side. Russell is surer.
What is clear is that after Eleanor discovered her husband's affair with her personal secretary, she formed her own 'families' to love, becoming closer to these people than her own children.
Eleanor's story of personal growth is inspiring. That the 'ugly' child from a dysfunctional family, whose mother-in-law ruled her home and life, and whose husband betrayed her, turned out to be a respected, world renowned humanitarian leader could be a fairy tale. But there was no magic involved. With dear friends and strength of will, Eleanor transformed her life.
I would recommend this biography to those who are not familiar with Eleanor Roosevelt. In fact, it would be a good first biography for young adults.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
June 6, 2021
It's a serviceable quick biography of Eleanor Roosevelt's life, but I have to say it's a shame that the author didn't focus more heavily on Eleanor's time in the Village in the 1910s and 1920s. This is a really interesting and formative time in her life, but the book actually discusses it very little, and instead is more of an overview of the major Roosevelt events, quoting quite a bit from other, longer biographies and (a little too much for my taste) trying to figure out a few Roosevelt mysteries by quoting a psychologist's broad guesses about what might have motivated Franklin and Eleanor to do things.
I think it would have made more sense to have the entire book, or almost all of it, focused on the Eleanor and her political activities and friendships she developed in the Village, and providing more context on the Village and the people she met there. That would have given this book an angle that is distinct from other Eleanor Roosevelt biographies.
I think it would have made more sense to have the entire book, or almost all of it, focused on the Eleanor and her political activities and friendships she developed in the Village, and providing more context on the Village and the people she met there. That would have given this book an angle that is distinct from other Eleanor Roosevelt biographies.
May 9, 2021
Really enjoyed this would recommend
August 9, 2025
As someone who has read extensively about Eleanor Roosevelt, I came to this book expecting a focused, richly detailed exploration of her life in Greenwich Village, the people she met, the ideas she engaged with, and how that period shaped her. Unfortunately, what I found was a frustratingly narrow treatment of the actual topic promised by the title.
The “Village” portion of the narrative feels like an afterthought, perhaps 20 pages at most. The rest meanders through well-trodden ground: Franklin’s political career, life in the White House, Campobello summers, and their apartment life under the shadow of Sarah Roosevelt. While those contexts are important in a broader biography, they have been covered, often more thorough, in countless other works. Here, they crowd out the very subject the book claims to illuminate.
For readers seeking a deep dive into Eleanor’s engagement with Greenwich Village’s vibrant political and cultural scene, the radical thinkers she encountered, and the personal freedoms she explored there, this book will likely disappoint. The glimpses we do get are intriguing, but they are too few and too fleeting.
The “Village” portion of the narrative feels like an afterthought, perhaps 20 pages at most. The rest meanders through well-trodden ground: Franklin’s political career, life in the White House, Campobello summers, and their apartment life under the shadow of Sarah Roosevelt. While those contexts are important in a broader biography, they have been covered, often more thorough, in countless other works. Here, they crowd out the very subject the book claims to illuminate.
For readers seeking a deep dive into Eleanor’s engagement with Greenwich Village’s vibrant political and cultural scene, the radical thinkers she encountered, and the personal freedoms she explored there, this book will likely disappoint. The glimpses we do get are intriguing, but they are too few and too fleeting.
January 25, 2021
I have not read many books on Eleanor Roosevelt and found Eleanor in the Village to be quite eye-opening. I loved how her parent's world was presented and, not being part of the elite, I found it entertaining and laughable at the lengths women went to just to be seen by the right people. As the story progresses, we follow Eleanor through marriage, childbirth, and dealing with Franklin's adultery. What resulted was a political partnership that allowed both to grow and pursue their own interests. Russell's book was entertaining, insightful, educational, and filled with quotes that promote future reading. Overall, this is a great read for a rainy day or long business trip.
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the opportunity to read an advance reader's copy.
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the opportunity to read an advance reader's copy.
May 4, 2021
I admit I was expecting more. Even though I did learn some things from this short book, I was hoping for something more, especially from the teasing title. Sounds like she was gayer than I'd previously thought but there's not a lot of meat in the telling. Even the chapters kept jumping around timewise to some frustration. It does make me want to read more about the Roosevelts, perhaps one of Lash's books that were used for source material here.
I won the book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I won the book in a Goodreads giveaway.
June 8, 2021
Barely about Eleanor.
Little exploration of her life in the village beyond listing addresses/acquaintances there.
A breeze to read tho 😙
Little exploration of her life in the village beyond listing addresses/acquaintances there.
A breeze to read tho 😙
December 14, 2021
3.5
This wasn't anything special 🤷♀️
This wasn't anything special 🤷♀️
March 8, 2022
Parts of this were entertaining, but fundamentally I'm not sure why this book exists.
April 1, 2021
This book has nothing to do with Eleanor in Greenwich Village. It's a very into level biography of her life and every 20 pages or so the author mentions that she has an apartment in the village. Extremely misleading title.
July 6, 2025
A very interesting account of the life of one of the greatest First Ladies this country has ever known.
November 12, 2022
Disappointing.
April 5, 2021
Eleanor Roosevelt was a global icon by the 1950s, a world-renowned former First Lady of the United States who had the bearing, manner and natural dignity that radiated an essence of near-royalty. She was the wife and unofficial advisor of a beloved U.S. president who brought the country out of an historically difficult depression. He lifted our spirits from the depths of financial hell and led us to the proudest military moment since the Revolution: the twin defeats of the Japanese war machine and the German horror machine.
By the '50s, Eleanor seemed the picture of grace, confidence, competence, maternal warmth and an over-arching wisdom that embraced the entire world. But that person whom we thought we knew so well was the living culmination of a life's worth of struggle, despair, social conflict, self-doubt, crippling shyness --- and the power and pride that led to her ultimate triumph over each of those daunting obstacles.
Author Jan Jarboe Russell's riveting and enlightening account of Eleanor Roosevelt's fascinating life, ELEANOR IN THE VILLAGE, offers us glimpses of the Roosevelt life few of us could have imagined. She was born into the epitome of New York high society: the Hyde Park Roosevelts. But she was an unusual and awkward child --- unsmiling, unattractively serious, physically clumsy and never "cute." Her mother, Anna Hall Roosevelt, was ashamed of her, intensely disliked her, called her ugly to her face, and consistently complained about her homely child to friends and relatives. Her father, Elliot Roosevelt, adored her. She was the light of his life. But unfortunately, her light did not shine brightly enough to prevent his falling into helpless bouts of alcoholism, depression, occasional violence, insanity and an early death. Anna died shortly after her husband, leaving Eleanor an orphan at a young age.
As a teenager, Eleanor was sent to a boarding school outside of London, which was founded and managed by an impressively educated and outspoken French feminist named Marie Souvestre. That teacher saw in her all the fine qualities that her caretakers in America had totally missed or simply ignored. With Souvestre's encouragement, Eleanor's rebirth was almost shockingly sudden and immediately apparent to all those around her. She became a leader and an example of positive characteristics and habits to all her classmates. The experience was the beginning of a new kind of life for the young woman.
Upon her return to New York, Eleanor was herded back into the society that she had come to despise --- debutante balls and unwanted opportunities to meet single young men of her class. Eventually, however, she became acquainted with her very handsome, bright and ambitious fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the two felt an immediate mutual attraction. After a year-long engagement, watched over carefully and incessantly by Franklin's domineering mother, the two married in 1905. Franklin dove enthusiastically into his political career, and Eleanor adopted her wifely and motherly duties, all the while encouraging her husband to pursue his political dreams. Their relationship was happy and loving, and their home life was a rather traditional, busy affair. As Franklin made his way up the political ladder, Eleanor, though feeling quite constrained by her rather typical homemaker's role, was a consistent and supportive wife and helpmate. Until 1918.
Four years earlier, Eleanor had hired a social secretary to assist in her many projects. Lucy Mercer was perfect for the position: bright, attractive and personable. But Lucy and Franklin fell desperately in love; he could not resist her, and he didn't want to try. Then, in 1918, Eleanor found Lucy's love letters to Franklin. She immediately confronted him, and he confessed his love for Lucy and admitted the affair. All intimacy between Eleanor and Franklin ended, and their marriage became a purely political affair. Eleanor said she would grant him the divorce he so desperately desired, but his mother quickly quashed the possibility of any such scandal. She threatened to personally destroy his career. For her part, Eleanor consented to stay in the marriage but insisted that from that time forward, she would be completely free to pursue her own dreams and to make her own choices in every aspect of her life --- her missions, her causes, her own unique moral and social standards, and the right to live wherever she wanted and to love whomever she desired.
In 1920, Eleanor made a radical move that would define and characterize the rest of her life: She became a denizen of Greenwich Village, the home of artists, writers, musicians, rogues, free lovers and political extremists --- the "bohemians" --- those who proclaimed and chose freedom from all traditional American political and social norms. She fought for the poor and downtrodden; marched for equal rights for women; illuminated the plights of people of color and immigrants; and toured the slums of New York so she could see and experience firsthand the struggles and unspeakable conditions that the poor were forced to endure during the Depression. She spent hours and hours of many days communing with the outcasts, the struggling artists, the socialists and communists, and the proponents of free love and the right to love anyone of any gender. In fact, she had a long intimate affair with respected journalist Lorena Hickock. For the last 42 years of her life, she was, in short, someone quite different from the person we thought we knew.
Once FDR became president, Eleanor used her influence with him and the power of the position he held to work tirelessly to advance all the progressive causes in which she profoundly believed. The president gladly --- and wisely --- considered and often followed her advice when it was politically feasible. The New Deal was certainly at least partly a product of the political partnership of Eleanor and Franklin. Perhaps the most telling result of her efforts, apart from all the accomplishments we attribute to the Roosevelt presidency, was the pure hatred she inspired from the right wing, particularly J. Edgar Hoover. He considered her a threat to America, a communist traitor, and he kept a secret file on her and her activities that eventually added up to an astonishing 3,900 pages. But Eleanor never became disillusioned or frightened, and never gave up the fight.
A terrible irony jumps off the pages of Russell's work here: We still are waging the same wars for equality and justice that Eleanor Roosevelt waged starting a century ago. To this day we cannot pass an equal rights amendment that would simply guarantee that women have the same rights and protections as men, the rights that men still so jealously guard and celebrate. We still lack the will to close the wealth gap, consistently enacting laws that benefit the wealthiest among us and crush the poorest. We still flunk the test for the rights of minorities, including the right to vote and to be protected rather than attacked by alleged law enforcers all over the country. We still refuse to universally recognize the rights of the very people whom Eleanor supported and lived with and loved. Newspaper headlines and social media posts scream daily of our failures. Eleanor Roosevelt was inarguably ahead of her time. Sadly, she was miles and years ahead of our time, too.
Reviewed by Jack Kramer
By the '50s, Eleanor seemed the picture of grace, confidence, competence, maternal warmth and an over-arching wisdom that embraced the entire world. But that person whom we thought we knew so well was the living culmination of a life's worth of struggle, despair, social conflict, self-doubt, crippling shyness --- and the power and pride that led to her ultimate triumph over each of those daunting obstacles.
Author Jan Jarboe Russell's riveting and enlightening account of Eleanor Roosevelt's fascinating life, ELEANOR IN THE VILLAGE, offers us glimpses of the Roosevelt life few of us could have imagined. She was born into the epitome of New York high society: the Hyde Park Roosevelts. But she was an unusual and awkward child --- unsmiling, unattractively serious, physically clumsy and never "cute." Her mother, Anna Hall Roosevelt, was ashamed of her, intensely disliked her, called her ugly to her face, and consistently complained about her homely child to friends and relatives. Her father, Elliot Roosevelt, adored her. She was the light of his life. But unfortunately, her light did not shine brightly enough to prevent his falling into helpless bouts of alcoholism, depression, occasional violence, insanity and an early death. Anna died shortly after her husband, leaving Eleanor an orphan at a young age.
As a teenager, Eleanor was sent to a boarding school outside of London, which was founded and managed by an impressively educated and outspoken French feminist named Marie Souvestre. That teacher saw in her all the fine qualities that her caretakers in America had totally missed or simply ignored. With Souvestre's encouragement, Eleanor's rebirth was almost shockingly sudden and immediately apparent to all those around her. She became a leader and an example of positive characteristics and habits to all her classmates. The experience was the beginning of a new kind of life for the young woman.
Upon her return to New York, Eleanor was herded back into the society that she had come to despise --- debutante balls and unwanted opportunities to meet single young men of her class. Eventually, however, she became acquainted with her very handsome, bright and ambitious fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the two felt an immediate mutual attraction. After a year-long engagement, watched over carefully and incessantly by Franklin's domineering mother, the two married in 1905. Franklin dove enthusiastically into his political career, and Eleanor adopted her wifely and motherly duties, all the while encouraging her husband to pursue his political dreams. Their relationship was happy and loving, and their home life was a rather traditional, busy affair. As Franklin made his way up the political ladder, Eleanor, though feeling quite constrained by her rather typical homemaker's role, was a consistent and supportive wife and helpmate. Until 1918.
Four years earlier, Eleanor had hired a social secretary to assist in her many projects. Lucy Mercer was perfect for the position: bright, attractive and personable. But Lucy and Franklin fell desperately in love; he could not resist her, and he didn't want to try. Then, in 1918, Eleanor found Lucy's love letters to Franklin. She immediately confronted him, and he confessed his love for Lucy and admitted the affair. All intimacy between Eleanor and Franklin ended, and their marriage became a purely political affair. Eleanor said she would grant him the divorce he so desperately desired, but his mother quickly quashed the possibility of any such scandal. She threatened to personally destroy his career. For her part, Eleanor consented to stay in the marriage but insisted that from that time forward, she would be completely free to pursue her own dreams and to make her own choices in every aspect of her life --- her missions, her causes, her own unique moral and social standards, and the right to live wherever she wanted and to love whomever she desired.
In 1920, Eleanor made a radical move that would define and characterize the rest of her life: She became a denizen of Greenwich Village, the home of artists, writers, musicians, rogues, free lovers and political extremists --- the "bohemians" --- those who proclaimed and chose freedom from all traditional American political and social norms. She fought for the poor and downtrodden; marched for equal rights for women; illuminated the plights of people of color and immigrants; and toured the slums of New York so she could see and experience firsthand the struggles and unspeakable conditions that the poor were forced to endure during the Depression. She spent hours and hours of many days communing with the outcasts, the struggling artists, the socialists and communists, and the proponents of free love and the right to love anyone of any gender. In fact, she had a long intimate affair with respected journalist Lorena Hickock. For the last 42 years of her life, she was, in short, someone quite different from the person we thought we knew.
Once FDR became president, Eleanor used her influence with him and the power of the position he held to work tirelessly to advance all the progressive causes in which she profoundly believed. The president gladly --- and wisely --- considered and often followed her advice when it was politically feasible. The New Deal was certainly at least partly a product of the political partnership of Eleanor and Franklin. Perhaps the most telling result of her efforts, apart from all the accomplishments we attribute to the Roosevelt presidency, was the pure hatred she inspired from the right wing, particularly J. Edgar Hoover. He considered her a threat to America, a communist traitor, and he kept a secret file on her and her activities that eventually added up to an astonishing 3,900 pages. But Eleanor never became disillusioned or frightened, and never gave up the fight.
A terrible irony jumps off the pages of Russell's work here: We still are waging the same wars for equality and justice that Eleanor Roosevelt waged starting a century ago. To this day we cannot pass an equal rights amendment that would simply guarantee that women have the same rights and protections as men, the rights that men still so jealously guard and celebrate. We still lack the will to close the wealth gap, consistently enacting laws that benefit the wealthiest among us and crush the poorest. We still flunk the test for the rights of minorities, including the right to vote and to be protected rather than attacked by alleged law enforcers all over the country. We still refuse to universally recognize the rights of the very people whom Eleanor supported and lived with and loved. Newspaper headlines and social media posts scream daily of our failures. Eleanor Roosevelt was inarguably ahead of her time. Sadly, she was miles and years ahead of our time, too.
Reviewed by Jack Kramer
January 18, 2021
I would call this a light history. Russell doesn't proffer any new facts that haven't been told and retold in countless other books about Eleanor Roosevelt. She does do a nice job of tieing Eleanor's attachment to Greenwich Village, but tends to extrapolate on other areas that really don't fit with the narrative. At times it was like the author was trying to include every major name in the book for some remote connection to her theme. It's still a decent look at Eleanor's life. The most interesting thing was the mention of 12 pages of the FBI file on ER that have still not been released. Thanks to Scribner, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the advance copy.
May 31, 2021
In 1920 Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the yet-to-be governor of NY and US president, stepped away from her five kids and other duties and took an apartment in bohemian Greenwich Village. This volume, while illuminating much about Eleanor's sad childhood, her eventual marriage of convenience to FDR, and how she lived out her ideals and identity, does not give enough attention to what precipitated her move and how it was received. The description of her actual time in the Village constitutes just a small fraction of the book, yet the premise that it molded who she became is the underlying premise. Very misleading title, but still an interesting look at ER.
September 22, 2021
Today’s post is Eleanor in the Village: Eleanor Roosevelt's Search for Freedom and Identity in New York's Greenwich Village by Jan Jarboe Russell. It is 224 pages long and is published by Scribner. The cover is a picture of Eleanor with her car. The intended reader is someone who is interested in Eleanor Roosevelt and her life. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- Hundreds of books have been written about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure. And, not much is known about why in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom—communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this “immersive…original look at an iconic figure of American politics” (Publishers Weekly), Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.
A captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with issues of marriage, motherhood, financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.
When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists, but there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village. Unlike the flappers in the 1920s, the New Women had a much more serious agenda, organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.
Including the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation—emotionally, politically, and sexually—and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary life.
Review- A great, quick read about Eleanor Roosevelt and her life as examined during her time living in Greenwich Village. Russell is a good writer, does good research, and her notes are good if you want to do more intense study into Eleanor’s life. In this book we get all the high points in Eleanor’s life and the events that made her who she was. I enjoyed this quick read and I did learn some very interesting things about her life that I did not know. If you have never about Eleanor Roosevelt or her life this book a great place to start, it gives you all the important information without getting overwhelming with all the details and names of all the people she interacted with in her life.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
From the dust jacket- Hundreds of books have been written about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure. And, not much is known about why in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom—communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this “immersive…original look at an iconic figure of American politics” (Publishers Weekly), Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.
A captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with issues of marriage, motherhood, financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.
When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists, but there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village. Unlike the flappers in the 1920s, the New Women had a much more serious agenda, organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.
Including the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation—emotionally, politically, and sexually—and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary life.
Review- A great, quick read about Eleanor Roosevelt and her life as examined during her time living in Greenwich Village. Russell is a good writer, does good research, and her notes are good if you want to do more intense study into Eleanor’s life. In this book we get all the high points in Eleanor’s life and the events that made her who she was. I enjoyed this quick read and I did learn some very interesting things about her life that I did not know. If you have never about Eleanor Roosevelt or her life this book a great place to start, it gives you all the important information without getting overwhelming with all the details and names of all the people she interacted with in her life.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
May 16, 2021
Title: Eleanor in the Village
Author: Jan Jarboe Russell
Read by: Samantha Desz
Publisher: Simon & Shuster Audio
Length: Approximately 5 hours and 7 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio. Thank-you!
The subtitle of Eleanor in the Village is Eleanor Roosevelt’s Search for Freedom and Identity in New York’s Greenwich Village. I love to read about first ladies and had not read much about that time in Eleanor’s life. I was happy to be able to listen to and review this audiobook.
Eleanor in the Village gives an overview of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life starting from her parents getting together through her death. It discusses Eleanor’s troubled relationship with her parents and how she became an orphan early. She fell in love with Franklin Roosevelt, and it built up her self-confidence that he loved her as well. Her marriage was troubled as she had an overbearing mother-in-law that took away Eleanor’s control over her own household and children. She limped along at least secure in Franklin’s love, until one day she discovered letters in a suitcase from his mistress and discovered he really loved somewhere else. That was the end of their physical marriage and they were a political partnership from that point on. How did they work together and how did Eleanor become a powerful woman herself?
I loved reading about how Eleanor really came into her own once she discovered Franklin’s affair. It was during this time that she lived in the Village and became friends with lesbian couples, free thinkers, and potential communists. It was also during this period that J. Edgar Hoover started having her surveilled even though her husband was not in political office at the time. I thought it was amazing to learn that there are still about twenty pages of secret files on Eleanor Roosevelt that the United States Government has not released to her grandson. I thought it was also interesting that she had so many assassinations attempts against her with her work with civil rights in the South, and that the FBI did not work on trying to solve them.
Franklin Roosevelt was a great president, but a terrible husband. I thought it was interesting how he was the “love of their life” for Eleanor and at least two other women. This book examines Eleanor’s sexuality, but comes away with few conclusions. She did have friends that were lesbian couples, and she had a love affair with a woman and a man. It is not clear whether the relationships were consummated. It also discusses how times were different back then where the press shielded the fact that Franklin and Eleanor did have an unconventional marriage.
My only negative was that I thought the book was going to really focus on Eleanor’s time in the Village. It talked about it somewhat but was really more of an overview of her life with an emphasis on the Village.
Samantha Desz was a great narrator and I enjoyed listening to this audiobook.
Overall, Eleanor in the Village is a good overview biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.
This review was first posted on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2021...
Author: Jan Jarboe Russell
Read by: Samantha Desz
Publisher: Simon & Shuster Audio
Length: Approximately 5 hours and 7 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio. Thank-you!
The subtitle of Eleanor in the Village is Eleanor Roosevelt’s Search for Freedom and Identity in New York’s Greenwich Village. I love to read about first ladies and had not read much about that time in Eleanor’s life. I was happy to be able to listen to and review this audiobook.
Eleanor in the Village gives an overview of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life starting from her parents getting together through her death. It discusses Eleanor’s troubled relationship with her parents and how she became an orphan early. She fell in love with Franklin Roosevelt, and it built up her self-confidence that he loved her as well. Her marriage was troubled as she had an overbearing mother-in-law that took away Eleanor’s control over her own household and children. She limped along at least secure in Franklin’s love, until one day she discovered letters in a suitcase from his mistress and discovered he really loved somewhere else. That was the end of their physical marriage and they were a political partnership from that point on. How did they work together and how did Eleanor become a powerful woman herself?
I loved reading about how Eleanor really came into her own once she discovered Franklin’s affair. It was during this time that she lived in the Village and became friends with lesbian couples, free thinkers, and potential communists. It was also during this period that J. Edgar Hoover started having her surveilled even though her husband was not in political office at the time. I thought it was amazing to learn that there are still about twenty pages of secret files on Eleanor Roosevelt that the United States Government has not released to her grandson. I thought it was also interesting that she had so many assassinations attempts against her with her work with civil rights in the South, and that the FBI did not work on trying to solve them.
Franklin Roosevelt was a great president, but a terrible husband. I thought it was interesting how he was the “love of their life” for Eleanor and at least two other women. This book examines Eleanor’s sexuality, but comes away with few conclusions. She did have friends that were lesbian couples, and she had a love affair with a woman and a man. It is not clear whether the relationships were consummated. It also discusses how times were different back then where the press shielded the fact that Franklin and Eleanor did have an unconventional marriage.
My only negative was that I thought the book was going to really focus on Eleanor’s time in the Village. It talked about it somewhat but was really more of an overview of her life with an emphasis on the Village.
Samantha Desz was a great narrator and I enjoyed listening to this audiobook.
Overall, Eleanor in the Village is a good overview biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.
This review was first posted on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2021...
June 10, 2021
Eleanor in the Village
Eleanor Roosevelt's Search for Freedom and Identity in New York's Greenwich Village
by Jan Jarboe Russell
Scribner
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 30 Mar 2021
I am reviewing a copy of Eleanor in the Village through Scribner and Netgalley:
There have been hundreds of books about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure. There is little known about why in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this fascinating, in-depth portrait, Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.
Eleanor in the Village is both an intriguing and captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with marriage, motherhood, and financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.
When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a neighborhood of rogues and outcasts, a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists. But there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village. The “new women” in Greenwich had a much more serious agenda than the flappers. They worked towards organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.
This book includes the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation emotionally, politically, and sexually and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary.
I give Eleanor in the Village five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
Eleanor Roosevelt's Search for Freedom and Identity in New York's Greenwich Village
by Jan Jarboe Russell
Scribner
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 30 Mar 2021
I am reviewing a copy of Eleanor in the Village through Scribner and Netgalley:
There have been hundreds of books about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure. There is little known about why in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this fascinating, in-depth portrait, Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.
Eleanor in the Village is both an intriguing and captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with marriage, motherhood, and financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.
When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a neighborhood of rogues and outcasts, a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists. But there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village. The “new women” in Greenwich had a much more serious agenda than the flappers. They worked towards organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.
This book includes the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation emotionally, politically, and sexually and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary.
I give Eleanor in the Village five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
April 16, 2021
Eleanor in the Village by Jan Jarboe Russell is an engaging and sympathetic biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. The title might cause some readers to expect something different but in a broad sense it is appropriate.
Some readers come to this expecting strictly an account of Eleanor's time in the Village with perhaps a little background. That particular understanding of the title will lead these readers to some degree of disappointment. The book is more of a biography with an emphasis on the Village as an ideological entity as much as a geographic one. Once FDR cheated on Eleanor and they decided (were coerced) into staying married, Eleanor was at long last free to be her own person, and this included apartments in the Village as well as friendships with people associated with the general left-leaning social, cultural, and political ideas brewing in and emanating from Greenwich Village.
It is the Village that Eleanor carried within her that the book is truly about, not so much the gossip and day-to-day happenings there. It is the lack of a lot of new gossip that disappoints some readers, rather than the emphasis on the influence of the Village on Eleanor, thus on FDR, and finally on the country.
This book does not break a lot of new ground but is a very insightful and readable biography. While all of the self-professed Eleanor experts claim it taught them nothing new, it will still be a rewarding read for those of us who don't get called for interviews because of our expertise on her life.(I assume all these experts get such calls constantly).
If you enjoy accessible but well-researched biographies this will be an enjoyable read. If you know some of the facts of Eleanor's life but haven't really placed them in context of the history around her, this will place those things in a well-rounded perspective. If you know all there is to know about Eleanor and just want gossip, well, keep looking.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Some readers come to this expecting strictly an account of Eleanor's time in the Village with perhaps a little background. That particular understanding of the title will lead these readers to some degree of disappointment. The book is more of a biography with an emphasis on the Village as an ideological entity as much as a geographic one. Once FDR cheated on Eleanor and they decided (were coerced) into staying married, Eleanor was at long last free to be her own person, and this included apartments in the Village as well as friendships with people associated with the general left-leaning social, cultural, and political ideas brewing in and emanating from Greenwich Village.
It is the Village that Eleanor carried within her that the book is truly about, not so much the gossip and day-to-day happenings there. It is the lack of a lot of new gossip that disappoints some readers, rather than the emphasis on the influence of the Village on Eleanor, thus on FDR, and finally on the country.
This book does not break a lot of new ground but is a very insightful and readable biography. While all of the self-professed Eleanor experts claim it taught them nothing new, it will still be a rewarding read for those of us who don't get called for interviews because of our expertise on her life.(I assume all these experts get such calls constantly).
If you enjoy accessible but well-researched biographies this will be an enjoyable read. If you know some of the facts of Eleanor's life but haven't really placed them in context of the history around her, this will place those things in a well-rounded perspective. If you know all there is to know about Eleanor and just want gossip, well, keep looking.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 20, 2021
I feel the title of this book is misleading since only a few short chapters are devoted to the actual time Eleanor Roosevelt spent in Greenwich Village with women who were instrumental in helping her feel more secure about her identity as a woman and political activist. It was a fascinating period and during the time that Eleanor lived there it was a rich center of Bohemian activity for famous writers, artists and people with decidedly alternative lifestyles. Although Russell mentions that Eleanor met and was friendly with many of them, it would have been better had we been given more details.
Instead, the book is simply a rather cursory review of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life beginning with her childhood and ending in the years following her death. There’s a fair degree of emphasis on the devastating effect of Franklin’s affair with Lucy Mercer which defined the tone of Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage for the rest of their lives making it clear that theirs was a political rather than a sexual union. Without going into too many details, Russell provides a glimpse into Eleanor’s own love life, which included several relationships with other women most notably Lorena “Hick” Hickok.
While the author does a credible job of highlighting some of the many important roles Eleanor Roosevelt played in decisions that made her husband one of the most influential presidents in history, I was disappointed that so little was said about her activities during WWII.
This was a quick and easy read, and in fact it felt like it was intended for a younger audience or at best as a short overview of one of the most influential women of the 20th century. But I was expecting a lot more and so the best thing I can say about this book is that it’s given me the motivation to do more reading about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
Instead, the book is simply a rather cursory review of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life beginning with her childhood and ending in the years following her death. There’s a fair degree of emphasis on the devastating effect of Franklin’s affair with Lucy Mercer which defined the tone of Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage for the rest of their lives making it clear that theirs was a political rather than a sexual union. Without going into too many details, Russell provides a glimpse into Eleanor’s own love life, which included several relationships with other women most notably Lorena “Hick” Hickok.
While the author does a credible job of highlighting some of the many important roles Eleanor Roosevelt played in decisions that made her husband one of the most influential presidents in history, I was disappointed that so little was said about her activities during WWII.
This was a quick and easy read, and in fact it felt like it was intended for a younger audience or at best as a short overview of one of the most influential women of the 20th century. But I was expecting a lot more and so the best thing I can say about this book is that it’s given me the motivation to do more reading about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
August 28, 2022
How misleading was the title and the back cover blurb! I had naturally expected that the focus of this biography would be the influence of Greenwich Village, particularly its progressive epicentre, on the Victorian debutante and later, the longest serving First Lady in American history. To be fair, historian Jan Jarboe Russell did delve into Eleanor Roosevelt’s transformative years in the Village, their influence on her thinking, her friendships, and her perspective on the role she would play in advocating for social change. However, the Village occupied only a minimal portion of the book, the majority focusing on Eleanor’s responses to FDR’s affairs and her relationships (with women), and the eventual asexual marriage between them.
I was disappointed in the less than academic tone of the research presented. Most disjointed, following the discussion of her activity to help her husband secure his political successes, his four terms as President, their life together and how they maintained separate lives, FDR’s illness and Eleanor’s strength and, finally, their deaths, Russell abruptly concluded by returning to a portrait of the “after life” of Greenwich Village. This did not seem to follow logically from where Russell had taken the text.
Despite its structural flaws and failure to provide a more incisive study of Eleanor Roosevelt, the biography held my interest. The attention given to her non-conformity and to her strength of character certainly singled her out as a significant figure who remained “elusive” during much of her years in a spotlight she never desired.
I was disappointed in the less than academic tone of the research presented. Most disjointed, following the discussion of her activity to help her husband secure his political successes, his four terms as President, their life together and how they maintained separate lives, FDR’s illness and Eleanor’s strength and, finally, their deaths, Russell abruptly concluded by returning to a portrait of the “after life” of Greenwich Village. This did not seem to follow logically from where Russell had taken the text.
Despite its structural flaws and failure to provide a more incisive study of Eleanor Roosevelt, the biography held my interest. The attention given to her non-conformity and to her strength of character certainly singled her out as a significant figure who remained “elusive” during much of her years in a spotlight she never desired.
January 31, 2021
I wish to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Place yourself in Greenwich Village during the roaring twenties, the depression and the Roosevelt presidency. These are some of periods for this amazing story of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt from her early childhood until her death. It draws attention to all the different facets of her life and how they wove the fabric of her decisions. You learn the details of her marriage and life with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The book treats delicate matters in respectful ways. It gave you the facts as they were but did not pass judgment or cause you to think less of either of them. Before reading this book I was not aware of most of details covered by this book. I found myself spellbound by what I was learning. I love historical stories and this book taught me, entertained me and introduced me to an outstanding couple.
The influence of the Bohemian lifestyle available in Greenwich Village helped set the direction of Eleanor’s thinking and future work in the advancement of Women’s issues at the time. Her independence resounds throughout.
The book is beautifully written and I am now a fan of Jan Russell. Her interviews with family descendants give authenticity to the story. Be sure you do not miss this one. It will be excellent as a book club choice.
Place yourself in Greenwich Village during the roaring twenties, the depression and the Roosevelt presidency. These are some of periods for this amazing story of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt from her early childhood until her death. It draws attention to all the different facets of her life and how they wove the fabric of her decisions. You learn the details of her marriage and life with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The book treats delicate matters in respectful ways. It gave you the facts as they were but did not pass judgment or cause you to think less of either of them. Before reading this book I was not aware of most of details covered by this book. I found myself spellbound by what I was learning. I love historical stories and this book taught me, entertained me and introduced me to an outstanding couple.
The influence of the Bohemian lifestyle available in Greenwich Village helped set the direction of Eleanor’s thinking and future work in the advancement of Women’s issues at the time. Her independence resounds throughout.
The book is beautifully written and I am now a fan of Jan Russell. Her interviews with family descendants give authenticity to the story. Be sure you do not miss this one. It will be excellent as a book club choice.
May 21, 2021
Having spent a stifling June afternoon in "the Village" and Washington Square tracking down and photographing Eleanor's Roosevelts brick and mortar ghosts, this book was a disappointment. More of an overview of Eleanor's live, loves, accomplishments and heartaches, the connection to the village is often lost. One chapter on the anti-establishment types populating early 20th. century Greenwich Village, and the rest is Eleanor all over the place. The relationships with lesbian couples are mentioned-Esther and Elizabeth, Nancy and Marian, a neglected here Molly Dewson-but those relationships are more colorfully examined and richly described in works by Doris K. Goodwin, Blanche Cooke, Joseph Lash, and even Margaret Suckley's diary, edited by Geoffrey Ward. The latter contains a vivid account of FDR's on visit to Eleanor's Washington Square apartment after a rain drenched 1944 campaign ride through New York City. Described down to the rice and eggs and spinach lunch, the visit is overlooked in Russell's account. (Goodwin is awfully good, even artistic, in under three pages on the visit.) Russell does in notes refer to the above seminal authors and their works. As a reader of Russel's biography of Lady Bird Johnson, still standing up well over twenty years later, I was very disappointed here.
May 29, 2021
This was a fine book and overview of many aspects of Eleanors personal development but the author should not have given the impression it was a book about her life in the village. This is a good book for an introduction to Eleanors personal life. The author gives succinct background information that helps in explaining the psychology of Eleanor and those close to her.
But this is in no means a deep dive or even about her life in the village at all. I’d recommend Eleanor and Hick by Susan Quinn as a true deep dive and as a model of how a book with this premise should have been written. For a Roosevelt enthusiast, this book will mostly leave you saying “Yes I already know that. Yes I already this and that person Eleanor was close with..but where are the stories and details of their relationship/time together that I haven’t heard before?” Which was disappointing.
The author also made made some excursions that were a bit of a stretch or untrue such as FDR and Howe calling Eleanors friends “she males” was a sign that they believed women would never be equal to men in public or private life…… right, Louis Howe the man who wanted to make Eleanor the first female president. Worse yet, I really think the author knew better about FDR and Howes intent as well as how Eleanor and her circle took the reference.
If you’re new to the Roosevelt’s 4stars. If not 2, 3 tops.
But this is in no means a deep dive or even about her life in the village at all. I’d recommend Eleanor and Hick by Susan Quinn as a true deep dive and as a model of how a book with this premise should have been written. For a Roosevelt enthusiast, this book will mostly leave you saying “Yes I already know that. Yes I already this and that person Eleanor was close with..but where are the stories and details of their relationship/time together that I haven’t heard before?” Which was disappointing.
The author also made made some excursions that were a bit of a stretch or untrue such as FDR and Howe calling Eleanors friends “she males” was a sign that they believed women would never be equal to men in public or private life…… right, Louis Howe the man who wanted to make Eleanor the first female president. Worse yet, I really think the author knew better about FDR and Howes intent as well as how Eleanor and her circle took the reference.
If you’re new to the Roosevelt’s 4stars. If not 2, 3 tops.
June 26, 2024
(Bought at the Strand Bookstore's stand at Central Park and Fifth Ave. for $10) Jan Jarboe Russell's brief (around 200 pages) study of Mrs. Roosevelt and her time in Greenwich Village reveals some new details and information, but it's so short that it doesn't go very deep into her life behind the scenes as a political wife. Russell gets most of her details from other books and only includes a few interviews with descendants of participants. We get Eleanor and Franklin's bios in a nutshell, as well as the bargain they struck when she found out about his affair with Eleanor's social secretary. They stayed together for the sake of the kids and his political career--that and his mom said she'd cut him off without a penny if he divorced Eleanor. The couple agreed to live their own lives but to work as a political team. Eleanor rented an apartment on 11th Street in the Village and worked with progressive women--mostly lesbians---on her favorite causes. We don't learn much about her day-to-day existence. How did she balance duties in Albany, Hyde Park, and DC with motherhood and being FDR's hostess? What was life like in the Village at this time? Who lived there other than the few famous names mentioned? Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time offers a more detailed account of a typical day for both husband and wife in her first 100 pages.
April 1, 2022
Incredibly interesting, this is a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt and those with whom she had close relationships. The main claim of the title - that of Eleanor's time in Greenwich Village and potentially any same-sex affairs she had - is hinted at, mused about, but never really examined. There is no real proof detailed. Nor is there any time truly give to Eleanor's time in the Village. She had an apartment there, but there is no discussion about what she experienced there or what she discovered there about herself. Instead, it's very much about a few relations she had, some of which were romantic or sexual and others simply friendships between women. But this does examine - to an extent - what impacted her in her self-esteem and how she saw herself. And from there, we also see why she stayed with FDR in spite of his affairs and their diminished love for each other.
In short, this was disappointing because it never really talked about those things it purports to be examining. And yet there is some interesting information in here that was enjoyable in its way.
In short, this was disappointing because it never really talked about those things it purports to be examining. And yet there is some interesting information in here that was enjoyable in its way.
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