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Amy Bloom’s new novel, White Houses, combines a pacey but cozy literary love story of heart-plucking longing balanced by realistic barriers—which hinge on mutable emotions, cultural restrictions, poor timing, bounds of duty—with clever banter and an irresistible peek inside a presidential marriage. At its core, though, White Houses is simply and powerfully an ode to lasting, shifting love.

Lorena Hickok, once the most popular woman reporter in America and confidant to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, grew up abused and neglected in the Midwest. After her mother’s death, the fourteen-year-old fled by train to take up housekeeping work, a stint with a traveling circus and finally became a reporter. She covered the Lindbergh baby kidnapping for the Associated Press and wrote about Roosevelt’s campaign until her growing friendship with Eleanor made objectivity impossible.

Told from the point of view of Hickok, known as Hick, White Houses flows with a dreamlike quality of someone remembering a time she longed for even as it was happening.

“We think we’ll remember it all and we remember hardly anything. Even when the car is only doing forty, it’s still going too fast,” Hick muses. “Neon-green streaks and bolts of flamingo pink blow up the sky on a winter’s night in Maine and we think—oh, we will never forget these northern lights, but we do.”

Hick leaves her beloved, hard-won profession to work for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and live in the White House, to be near Eleanor. While historians continue to quibble about whether Hick and Eleanor’s relationship was physical or one of fervent but platonic devotion, Bloom firmly rejects any diminishment of their complicated passion.

While we witness the novel as Hick’s beautiful elegy for what was and what might still be, she remains a steely reporter, one unwilling to twist the past to form a more beautiful present.

She recalls her reaction when Eleanor first requested her presence on a trip: “I was between girlfriends and between dogs. I packed my bag.” On that trip, the two begin to share intimacies, but Hick holds back: “People like when their griefs balance, when the sufferings can share the same stage. My heartache, your heartache. My illness, your illness. Not my broken arm, your mass murder.”

Hick’s realism and stoicism create an even more moving story because her clear-eyed devotion proves more rousing than any sentimental romance. The gruff pluckiness makes the sweet more precious. Hick playfully tells Eleanor: “I will pay you a million dollars to let me look at you.” She confides to the reader: “Eleanor’s body is the landscape of my true home.”

Here they are, two ordinary women, neither great beauties, neither young, but their hungry desire for one another extends beyond the physical, beyond any immediate satisfaction. They know their love, in whatever form it takes, will lead to unfulfilled yearning, to loneliness, to fear, but they believe in its value, its necessity.

Bloom laces White Houses with gems about the nature of love, packaged in swoon-worthy prose. The final paragraphs left me in tears—for what I know is true in her words, and for all of those out there who haven’t experienced it.

I first read about Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt last year when I read Loving Eleanor by Susan Wittig Albert. It's a fabulous book, deep and well researched. And I loved it. So, when I learned about White Houses by Amy Bloom was I curious about how it would be. I'm glad to say that this one is also very good, well-written and engrossing.

I'm fascinated by the Roosevelt family and even though FDR is my favorite do I find Eleanor Roosevelt to be such an interesting woman. This book is a fictional take on Eleanor's relationship with Lorena Hickok. It's an engaging tale, where we get to Lorena's POV of her growing up with fan abusing father, her time at a circus and of course her first interview with Eleanor that starts off a love affair.

However, I did feel that, despite the wonderful portrayal of the characters, and the compelling dialog that the story lacked the depth that Loving Eleanor had. I miss some parts from Loving Eleanor, like for instance how their relationship was put an end by FDR because they were a risk to the presidency. I never really got the sense of what happened to them in this book. Lorena moved out from the White House and was involved with another woman. And, then that relationship ended. Sometimes the story just felt a bit disjointed. But, that's perhaps the point, although it did feel like Lorena jumped from thought to thought in her recollection of her relationship with Eleanor.

If you want a tragic love story is this book great. There are several wonderful memorable scenes that I loved like Lorena last meeting with Franklin. Or in the beginning when Eleanor arrives at Lorena's place after Franklin's death. I think that Amy Bloom did a wonderful job of describing the book's characters.

White Houses is a fictional account of the love between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hickock. I learned a lot about Lorena and thought she was a very interesting character. The childhood abuse she endured was heartbreaking. She struggled to become one of the first well known female journalist, in an exclusively male dominanted profession. Lorena first met Eleanor when she was the journalist assigned to cover Eleanor. I had a hard time believing the openness of their relationship due to the social unacceptance of loving another of the same sex. Lots of history popped up on the pages...the Lindbergh baby...Amelia Earhart...The World's Fair...FDR's infidelity. This is a short read and I did enjoy it!

This is a book for historical fiction based on the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and "first friend" Lorena Hickok.

I'm not sure if it was the style of writing - it felt like it was also written in a 1940s/1950s "news bulletin" type narrative: very abrupt, matter-of-fact ... but I also felt like so much was missing.

In part that could be because we only get Lorena's perspective - and the telling of her love story is choppy at best. Jumping from past to present, from her story to Eleanor's, from when they were together to when they no longer were ... it just felt too disjointed to be an enjoyable read. It actually would have worked better as a series of short stories, written from different perspectives.

I'd give this maybe 1.5 stars. The subject intrigued me, but I was let down in the telling of their story.

A touching fictionalized story about the love affair between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and writer Lorna Hickok. Amy Bloom tells the story of the two women through Lorna's eyes as she recounts their past and present romantic relationship.

You see me.You see all of me and I don't think you love everything you see. I hope you do, but I doubt you do. But, you see me. The whole person. Not just yourself, reflected in my eyes. Not just the person who loves you. Me.

White Houses is filled with a sense of the bittersweet. As much as Lorna and Eleanor loved, their relationship was behind closed doors and stolen moments. Just like Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Brokeback Mountain, Lorna finds herself unable to quit the hold that Eleanor has over her because of the love they share for one another. There are so many beautiful lines in this story and Amy Bloom crafts with care and respect the relationship between the two women. I would hope to see this book discussed for many months to come.

Thank you Random House for the opportunity to read White Houses before it's publication date. As a fan of Eleanor Roosevelt's, I jumped at the chance to read this novelization of her love affair with Lorena Hickok, a well know journalist who evenutally moved into the White House as the "first friend." I had a vague awareness that Eleanor had been know to have female partners, but was not familiar with the details of her love life outside of her marriage to FDR. And I wanted to love this book - however, it left me wanting.



White Houses is told from the perspective of Lorena, or Hick, as she is known, as she comes to comfort Eleanor in the days after FDR's death. Hick's experience of the present moment is interwoven with her memories of her childhood (abusive, neglectful) and her early relationship with Eleanor (passionate, largely accepted) and their eventual undoing. There are some fantastic quotes from Eleanor ("the function of democratic living is not to lower standards but to raise those that have been too low") and some juicy, heartbreaking, but ultimately not surprising tidbits about FDR's own extramarital romances, but ultimately I could not get deeply invested in the characters, however well-known or familiar they may be. Everything about the book carried the feeling of misty, water-colored memories, but perhaps because of that, made it difficult to connect with. There were a few standout moments of romance though, and one of the strengths of the book is the passion between Eleanor and Hick, and the ways in which Bloom describes the beauty of two middle aged women coming together in love, which I've not often encountered in my reading - not necessarily the sexualized part, but just the idea of seeing an aged woman's body as beautiful and sensual - that was powerful.



Overall, a sweet read, but not one I'd likely revisit... although, maybe I'd see it differently after a more biographically focused book about Eleanor to fill in some of the space in her public life.



3/5 stars.

Bloom is the author of two best-selling novels, three short story collections, a children’s book and an acclaimed collection of essays. She’s been a nominee for the National Book Award (Come to Me: Stories) and the National Book Critics Circle Award (A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories).

And she’s written another stunner here!

Synopsis (Amazon): Lorena Hickok meets Eleanor Roosevelt in 1932 while reporting on [FDR’s] first presidential campaign. Having grown up worse than poor in South Dakota and reinvented herself as the most prominent woman reporter in America, “Hick” … is not quite instantly charmed by the idealistic, patrician Eleanor. But … as her connection with the future first lady deepens into intimacy, what begins as a powerful passion matures into a lasting love, and a life that Hick never expected to have. She moves into the White House, where her status as “first friend” is an open secret, as are FDR’s own lovers. After she takes a job in the Roosevelt administration … she comes to know Franklin not only as a great president but as a complicated rival and an irresistible friend, capable of changing lives even after his death. Through it all, even as Hick’s bond with Eleanor is tested by forces both extraordinary and common, and as she grows as a woman and a writer, she never loses sight of the love of her life. | 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.

The subject matter of this story was not new to me, but Bloom’s superb execution brought these two characters, and their historical times, to life. Told from Hick’s perspective, in Hick’s unique, hardboiled, irreverent South Dakotan voice, this is a poignant, funny, often heartbreaking story of forbidden love, secrets, double standards and the school of hard knocks.

Can’t recommend this one enough!!

This is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok.

Hickok is a reporter and is assigned to interview Eleanor Roosevelt. They form a bond, and the story traces their friendship and relationship over the years.

The book is written from Lorena's point of view. The narrative goes back and forth between 'present day' and Lorena talking about her roots growing up in poverty in South Dakota.

I am intrigued with books that take real life people and weave a fictional narrative around them. I think that would be more challenging than coming up with complete fiction: you need to use facts and portray the real-life characters as they are known.

Overall I really liked this book. It took me a bit to get into the narrative and get used to the flow of the book - the flipping back and forth in time. But once I got over that, probably 25 or 30 pages, I really got into it and enjoyed it.

I found two things particularly interesting...

The first was that, at least according to the book, it was an open secret that both Roosevelt's were having affairs. I am not that familiar with the history, so I am assuming that this is somewhat rooted in fact. That was back in the day before full-on media coverage and social media. Today to be able to pull that off would be unthinkable. How times have changed.

The second interesting thing was around the progress of the ability to be openly gay. Hickock is a lesbian and has many relationships and affairs. They aren't secret, but they aren't flaunted around openly either. This theme runs through the book with another gay character, a man.

This was a good read, and great story. I would highly recommend it.

I gave it a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads.

Full disclosure: I received this eARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)

In White Houses, Amy Bloom tells the story of Lorena Hickok and her longtime relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt. We see "Hick" growing up as a young girl in South Dakota and the path that led her to the Roosevelts. This work of fiction gives insight into the lives of the Roosevelts and life in the White House. I am fascinated by this period of time, and Eleanor Roosevelt as a person. However, this book did not "wow" me. While I enjoyed it, the writing was so matter of fact and it was missing the emotional component that I needed. Also, there were phrases used in the book pertaining to their sex life that I found to be unnecessary and classless. This book, for me, was good but not great. Thank you @randomhouse for an advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Life does not endow much to young Lorena Alice Hickok. When her mother dies, her father sends her away and she has to make her way on her own. Thanks to her stubbornness and perseverance, Lorena becomes one of the first woman journalists of the United States. In 1932, she works for Associated Press and reports on Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s electoral campaign. This is when she meets Eleanor for the first time. They women fall for each other immediately and this, Lorena gets closer to the famous couple and finally becomes Eleanor‘s lover.

Based on the known facts, Amy Bloom tells the story of two unorthodox and progressive women of the 1930s. It is especially Lorena who is an extraordinary character. She is not particularly charming, nor very attractive at the first glance, nevertheless, there is something fascinating about her, her independence makes her stand out and her courage and self-confidence irritate the men around her.

On the other hand, Eleanor Roosevelt is an outstanding first lady. Educated in the best boarding schools and acquainted with the manners of the high society, she moves smoothly around the rich and famous. When she entered a room, all eyes were on her. Yet, this did not prevent her husband from betraying her and obviously, she was aware of this. His lovers lived under their roof and Eleanor could watch them closely. But, had Franklin and Eleanor lost interest, they could be awful, nasty people.

Amy Bloom unveils a scandalous affair and tells the story of a woman, or rather two women, who followed their instincts and thus were quite ahead of their time.

So much has changed, but so much stays the same.

Imagine a world in which America's First Lady could carry on a lesbian affair with her lover living in the White House and working for the government. Imagine keeping that affair private. Imagine what it felt like to love the First Lady of the United States,

Amy Bloom has done a wonderful job of imagining the details of Lorena Hickok’s life, and the intimate details of her affair with Eleanor Roosevelt. The two women come completely alive in this retelling. I particularly love Hicks’ passionate defense of Eleanor, particularly with her children, and all of the people in her life who have hrt her.

Much has been written about all of Bloom’s characters, but this fictionalization explores the private lives of the FDR White House in an unusual and intimate way.

This book was interesting. I know very little about American presidents so I really don't know how much of this is true, rumour, or artistic license. I struggled with the characters. Some of the writing confused me. I couldn't make sense of some of the metaphors, Sometimes I wasn't sure who was speaking and had to reread. I enjoyed learning and reading about the complex relationships that existed in the white house, but the writing style was difficult to follow at times. Some of this may be due to my lack of knowledge in American history (I'm Canadian); some of this may be fixed in the final print? I'm not sure.
The characters.
Franklin Roosevelt - I can't help it, I don't like philandering men.
Eleanor - I'm not sure why she was bothered (according to Lorena) by Franklins affairs. (The book kept saying she was such a good person and treated the mistresses kindly even though they hurt her pride). She had her own affair. Possibly several. And he was accepting of her love life.
Missy - She was kind of pathetic. She was not only a mistress, but a lovesick sap who was driven mad waiting for Franklin's love.
I think Lorena was the only character I really liked. She had a rough life. She found her own kind of success and then love and made her life work in a time where her preferences were not acceptable.
The love story itself felt distant and slightly one sided. I'm sure it wasn't one sided, but it felt one sided. We only heard Lorena gush about Eleanor, we never heard Eleanor's side. Once in a while something was said or done that made you realize yes Eleanor also loved Lorena, it just wasn't always evident partly because of the narrative.

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for feedback

I completely enjoyed this book and recommended it to someone else before I finished! It read like a completely plausible memoir and I liked the journal entry format. This makes me want to get deeper into the actual history of Eleanor Roosevelt. The narrator of the book had a unique voice and was very likable.

Beautifully written, completely believable work of fiction. If you want to know what real love is then read this book.

White Houses by Amy Bloom is a novel about Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. The story has some basis in factual information about their travels and letters, however this book is a novel. It is well written with the portrayal of two women who loved, but were constantly on guard with their relationship. Eleanor following her husband from governor to president, prevented any private life.

Lorena Hickok grew up in a harsh life in South Dakota and left home when the opportunity arose. She was curious and found a career in writing. However her relationship with Eleanor prevented her from continuing the coverage of the White House and she began to travel around the country to writing about the depression and how people were surviving.

What made the book poignant - because yes it was poignant - was the obvious affection and love between them. The thought and knowledge of loving someone, but only having stolen moments sometimes for days, others for hours and sometimes for just minutes. White Houses was a great read.

White Houses is not what I expected. I am a huge fan of historical fiction but this book did not work for me. Other reviewers have found this book to be remarkable. Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book.

What truly happened between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena "Hick" Hickok may never truly be known.
FDR's proclivity for mistresses is well known. Did Eleanor truly have one of her own or was it just flirtation and passionate letters?
This book is historical fiction from the opinion that Eleanor and Hick were lovers. It crosses decades and covers the romantic relationship and the friendship that survived. If you are looking for a rosy picture of FDR this is not it. He was most definitely a multi-faceted man just as Eleanor was a multi-faceted woman. This book shows multiple sides of both of them...the public and the private parts included.
I certainly want to read some non-fiction book on the women to dig deeper and decide what I think.

"She sent me away eight years ago, and I left. Two days ago, she called me to come and I came."

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

White House tells the fictionalized romance between Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt. Hick, as her friends refer to her, is sent to report on the up and coming Franklin Roosevelt in her first run for President. It is there she meets idealistic Eleanor. The relationship isn't love at first site, but the connection and bond the two have his deep and grows into a powerful passion and deep love that neither is able to eat go of, even though their relationship could cause a damning scandal. Their love becomes an open secret, but still they must hide the truth. Hick moves into the White House, become the "first friend" and referred to by Eleanor as "part of the family".

Hick lives there along with Franklin's own open lovers, and she comes to realize that she admire the President, but also finds him to be a staunch rival for the attention of the first lady. As time and tragedy test the bond between the two women, Hick comes to understand that she will never be able to fully let go of the love of her life.

This book bounced between the time after Franklin's (it is so weird to call a President by their first name) death and memories Hick has from living in the White House and her before. The transitions were not always smooth and I sometimes struggled to determine if this was after the President's death or if it was a memory. The narrator, Hick, often speaks of the deep and great bond her and Eleanor have, but I had a hard time feeling it as a reader. I wish there would have been more focus on the memories and less on the time after the President's death. I understand why the author chose to speak of that time, but it seemed like I never saw the bond form between the two which made it harder to believe later in the story.

There were moments in this book that touched me. Hicks childhood was awful and the author writes it in a no nonsense way that makes it almost more devastating because Hick seems so detached from it. Her hurt in being sent away from Eleanor was also emotional for the reader, though I wish the characters would have been more emotional about it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but didn't find it groundbreaking. I had higher expectations for a novel about my favorite first lady.

5 strongly written stars

Eleanor Roosevelt...what person does not know that name? Wife of the longest serving president, humanitarian, mother to six children and wife to a philanderer of a husband. Speaking out as first lady, she became a woman working for the good of the poor, the downtrodden. She spoke out against racial discrimination. She was a paragon of virtue, intelligence, often using mass media to publicize the plight of many. She was also, as stated by this book and through her various letters written to Lorena Hickok (Hicks), in love with another woman.

This relationship to Lorena is the impetus behind this wonderfully written novel. Lorena, a poor young girl, born in rural Wisconsin. She was poor, raped by her father, and for a time worked in a circus where it seems her homosexual tendencies were awakened. In 1932, now a reporter for Associated Press, she is assigned to cover Eleanor as the new first lady. They meet and their life and love take off from there. Eventually, Lorena moves into the White House and her affair with Eleanor blooms as they revel in their love and their need for one another.

This was a beautiful love story told in the voice of Lorena. Over their many years together, there were separations, heartaches, and tragedy, but they always seemed to find one another. Lorena was often photographed with Eleanor but was most times cut out of the picture for there could be no scandal worse then being a homosexual in those days.

Lorena knows Eleanor, she knows that no matter what how many affairs, how many slights, how many indiscretions Franklin Roosevelt had, she will never leave him. Lorena had much respect for Franklin, she also had much jealousy of the hold he had over Eleanor.

This novel's words are tragically beautiful. Ms Blooms's ability to show us the beauty of a relationship that so few would know of until the death of Eleanor, is amazing. She opens up to us a world where love is the driving force and life can be wonderful when you love the right person. Tragically, these women never got the opportunity to be together for a lifetime. Eleanor once said"The future belongs who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Her dreams for a time were realized in the moments that she and Lorena shared.

Thanks you to Amy Bloom, Random House, and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this most tragic and poignant novel.