I am in charge of our Senior School library and now during this time of lockdown, I am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

I think if you like historical fiction based on real people, then you probably will like this, but unfortunately, that just isn't a subgenre that I am interested in. And I ALWAYS FORGET this! I just always get in my head with things like "well I don't remember that in my history book". But of course, if this genre is somehting that intrigues you, I'd definitely give it a chance!

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

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

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

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

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

I thought the subject matter of this book was really interesting and I wasn’t bored, but I felt like the dialogue could be stiff at times. I also thought the flashbacks could get confusing and I felt myself unsure of when a conversation/event was taking place for longer than I should be.

I really enjoyed this novel and learned a lot about the Roosevelts that frankly, I had no idea about before. I'll be looking for more titles from Amy Bloom in the future.

I confess I didn’t know much about Eleanor Roosevelt, and certainly nothing about her private life. While this was certainly a taboo subject in the 1930s, I’m not sure I needed all the details of the relationship between Eleanor and Lorena. Although the writing is beautiful.

It's a rather flat novel. When you see the name Eleanor Roosevelt in the blurb you have high expectations. The novel failed to deliver.

A fascinating story about Eleanor Roosevelt that is not well known but significant and important to understanding such a prominent and notable figure in America’s history.

Usually I don't have a problem with books written in first-person, but it bothered me here and I think it was because there was little emotional insight, which is what I see as the main benefit of using this point of view. The narrator (Hick) moved swiftly from one even to the next, but the relationship, the emotions, internal struggle, and external conflict that would have naturally occurred in such a triangle seemed to be glossed over. It must be hard to delve into the emotional privacy of real-life characters, but in a fictionalized account, why not go there? An interesting book, but it fell short of what could have been.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful semi-fictional story about Eleanor Roosevelt and her lover. The writing is magical and immersive. I read this over a long period time of sleepless nights and it was great to watch them grow together as people, grow up and eventually apart. They maintained a very complex relationship, that probably wouldn’t be possible in these heavily social media times. A true timeless classic about love and friendship. Highly recommended.

Ohh I loved this book! This is historical fiction at it's finest, although it has taken me down a rabbit hole of researching Eleanor and Hick and their relationship-the whole time HOPING WITH ALL MY MIGHT that this is based a lot on facts. This almost reads like a memoir written by Hick and I had to keep reminding myself that it was in fact, not...but came out of the imagination of Bloom herself. The first person narrative really gave life to the narrative. The writing was superb, real and made me crave more information about their relationship. I would highly recommend this one if you're interested in FDR, Eleanor, historical fiction and/or LGBT themes.

I wanted to love this one, but the first-person perspective made it feel like a rambling monologue. I will have to check out Eleanor and Hick for the nonfiction take on this relationship.

White Houses is a fascinating historical fiction novel. It is the story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok or “Hick” as she is called. It is the kind of historical fiction I love, going deep into the minds of the characters.

In most history books, Eleanor and Hick have been referred to as “close friends.” However, many suspect that they actually had a lesbian relationship. The author, Amy Bloom, uses the thousands of letters that the women wrote to each other during their lifetime to piece together their story.

The story is told through the voice of Hick. We follow her and Eleanor through the three decades of their relationship. The settings and the backdrop are portrayed with careful attention to facts.

You’re left feeling like you were given a special window into the lives of these two women. The author did a good job of weaving facts, people and places of the time into the created dialogue and relationship between Eleanor and Hick.

I received an ARC of the book

White Houses
by Amy Bloom

I have read a bunch of Amy Bloom books, so when a new one became available, I requested it on NetGalley and in a Goodreads contest (I got greedy, I know.) For the first time ever, I received both copies, which, for a booknerd like me, meant that I could read it at home and on the go. Don't judge me, life is crazy and I need options. The book blurb says it is for readers of The Paris Wife and The Swans of Fifth Avenue, so, while I felt typecast, they were correct. I think the difference between those books and this one is that this felt much more intimate — not sure if it's because of the "open secret" nature of the relationships, or Bloom's sensitive depiction — but either way, the reader is rewarded with a compelling story of two truly amazing women. There have been plenty of books about Eleanor Roosevelt, of course, but I was not prepared to be more interested in Lorena Hickok, whose achievements, despite (or because of) her relationship with Eleanor, were stunning.


For Goodreads:

Why I picked it — Because I love Eleanor Roosevelt and historical fiction
Reminded me of… The Paris Wife, and Loving Frank
For my full review — click here

Knowing this is a work of fiction I just can't get past the fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was our first lady at one point Such a weird book for me. This just was not my kind of book DNF at 11%
My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishers for a free digital ARC of White Houses by Amy Bloom.

White Houses by Amy Bloom is a love story. It is a fictionalized account of the romantic relationship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Alice Hickock. This story, told from Hickock's point of view, starts after Franklin Roosevelt's death and then seems to skip around telling and retelling various events and occasions of previous years and later years up to shortly after Eleanor's funeral.
Some of the writing is beautiful and some of the language is gritty and coarse.
Although I was given a digital ARC of this book, I borrowed the audio version from the library and the narrator was supreme.
3 stars
Posted June 28, 2018 Goodreads

The story of the forbidden affair between first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hickok beginning with their meeting in 1932. This is a fascinating story about two strong women and Bloom does an excellent job in bringing them to life. I have read about Eleanor and Hick before, but this novel truly made them feel real to me, and I think that's the most important part in writing historical fiction.

Indie bookstore owner Roxanne Cody and I gushed about this book in an episode called "WSIRN Ep 126: Books that appeal to your head AND your heart"

First of all, I had no idea that Eleanor Roosevelt was believed to be a lesbian. So, that was intriguing! I found First Friend, Lorena Hickock "Hick" very interesting and wanted to know more about her, but I didn't really care for the back and forth, all over nature of this book. I would have preferred something more chronological. I don't feel like I was allowed to get invested in their relationship or care about whether they broke up or got back together.

With mixed thoughts about this book, the review is a 3 star out of 5 star. I applaud the idea of getting the less-known, yet fascinating story of Eleanor and Hick into readers' hands. And to be done in a fictional context is wise in that the story is assumed, yet not completely proven in my understanding. However, as a reader with little knowledge of the Roosevelts, I did have a hard time knowing who was real, and who was fiction in the book. Also, the format of the book, reminiscing in the chapter of each season of their lives helped me understand the basis of their relationships. However, the sentence structure was stilted in the name of being emphatic with the short phrases of dialogue. Overall, an entertaining book.