In 1933, President Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt took up residence in the White House. With them went the celebrated journalist Lorena Hickok - Hick to friends - a straight-talking reporter from South Dakota, whose passionate relationship with the idealistic, patrician First Lady would shape the rest of their lives.
Told by the indomitable Hick, White Houses is the story of Eleanor and Hick's hidden love, and of Hick's unlikely journey from her dirt-poor childhood to the centre of privilege and power. From Washington, D.C. to Hyde Park, from a little white house on Long Island to an apartment on Manhattan's Washington Square, Amy Bloom's new novel moves elegantly through fascinating places and times, written in compelling prose and with emotional depth, wit, and acuity. Filled with fascinating back-room politics, the secrets and scandals of the era, and exploring the potency of enduring love, it is an imaginative tour-de-force from a writer of extraordinary and exuberant talent.
A novel about the real life secret affair between the First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt and celebrated journalist Lorena Hickock. Told from Lorena’s point-of-view, the book tells of the illicit decades-long affair between the two women, as well as exploring her unique position within the White House, to see all the secret machinations of government. The book also flashes back to Hickok’s dirt-poor upbringing, providing a stark contrast to the power and glamour of Washington. A fascinating novel that shines light on a little known true story.
