Cover Image: White Houses

White Houses

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Whilst watching (and sleeping to, it seriously is incredibly effective as a sleeping aid) PBS miniseries The Roosevelts, I was surprised to see the insignificant amount of screen time given to Eleanor’s lesbian affair. Albeit in no small way owning to the fact that the PBS went after just about every other detail with the sort of exhaustive attention that resulted in a seemingly endless program. I mean it does end eventually, I just haven’t made it there yet. Not because it isn’t fascinating and well done, but because I can’t seem to stay awake long enough for it. This book, to quite the opposite effect, was selected on a sleepless night and finished in more or less one sitting. And it is exclusively about the love of Eleanor’s life, which apparently wasn’t her charismatic spouse, but a stout, no nonsense female reporter. Told from the perspective of the latter, it unfolds in alternating timelines, and with a passion for ardent, at times I struggled to reconcile it with the image of Eleanor Roosevelt as she exists in public knowledge, from diffident wife to an outspoken supporter of liberal (quite so for the times) ideas. Lorena, of whom I knew not much at all going in, comes across as a talented writer, romantic and (surprisingly…see photos, consider the era) a total player. The narrative’s perspective is obviously biased, Roosevelt is not just a president, he’s a romantic rival. In fact his great accomplishments are somewhat underplayed, here he comes across mostly as a charming handsome womanizer, not one of the greatest president this country has ever had. Lorena and Eleanor’s romance seems credible, much of it outlined within actual historical facts and correspondence…oh, what letters they wrote back in the day. But, of course, not quite meant to have a proper fairy tale happy ending, too many outside factors, too many ideas and ideals and causes. For me, it was very enjoyable to have a fictionalized account to go with the documentary one, sort of like adding the color to the black and white format, quite literally, in this case, the tv miniseries are strictly B&W. It’s good to know the facts, but nice to have the embellishments as it were. I think I shall do some more research to round up my general knowledge of the situation. Maybe the embellishments were too embelishy? There was certainly some froufrou writing going on. I’m not familiar with the author, but her other titles seem to be heavily lovecentric, so this did veer into women’s fiction now and then, but it read nicely, very elegant sort of narrative with oh so much (too much?) lovely love language. And then at times it was just genuinely sweet, like reflections on the way relationships progress and mature with age. Whatever you may think of the book, there’s still a pretty awesome fact that great many decades ago a beloved First Lady had a lesbian love affair while at the White House during one of the most trying times in American history and apparently with her husband’s consent. Now that’s a story. Life…sometimes is really is stranger than fiction. And now I have both fictional and nonfictional accounts, so my brain can pick and choose and eventually create its own version of the events from an educative perspective. Thanks Netgalley.

Was this review helpful?

This is a swooningly beautiful book, both in its story and in its writing! I love everything Amy Bloom has written, and I especially love this book. This is excellent historical literary fiction, and the language is so beautiful. One of those delicious books to savor for a long while!

Was this review helpful?

(I never envied a wife or a husband, until I met Eleanor. Then, I would have traded everything I ever had, every limo ride, every skinny-dip, every byline and carefree stroll for what Franklin had, polio and all.)

I never thought I would find a fictional novel about Eleanor Roosevelt and her “scandalous love” for her friend Lorena Hickok ( Hick) to be so romantic. It’s not Eleanor though, it’s Hick’s life that I couldn’t get enough of. By turns horrifying and exciting, I wanted to save her from her disturbingly abusive, poverty-stricken upbringing and celebrate every success and thrill she worked so hard for later in life. Hick’s musings about Eleanor’s children rang true, mothers aren’t real people in the eyes of their kids, even as they grow into adulthood. Mothers take care of things, and certainly weren’t expected to be sexual beings with needs, more so back in the day. Women were meant to be proper, Eleanor seems to be forgiven nothing yet Franklin certainly was indulged by his children, for his passions be they women or anything else. Eleanor seemed to belong to a different time, how different things could have played out in our modern times. One thing that was certain then, her children were needy, it was she who carried them and who was betrayed by their loyalties. Hick’s life has made her perceptive, and she is the eye into the marriage of the Roosevelt’s. Hick tells the story of Eleanor’s motherhood too, and the resentment she feels in the treatment she often witnessed that Eleanor received as the children aged.

Eleanor’s desire to know ‘once upon a time’ tales from Lorena’s childhood was crushing, and the differences in their suffering vast. Eleanor may have been a disappointment to her mother, for lack of beauty but Lorena’s life is a nightmare by comparison, one that makes any tale of woe in Eleanor’s memory seem golden. Though similar loses are shared between the ‘companions’ the differences are extreme. Suffering is a strange best, but it’s hard to feel sorry for the wounds that seem so miniscule when held up against what Lorena has survived. There is a part in the novel where Eleanor is doing the proper thing of a first lady, dining as only those during the depression should, bland food, nothing of pleasure that her grand status can certainly afford and Lorena’s thought “…Eleanor, you have never eaten food like this in your life, except when you wanted to,” expresses perfectly how those with nothing would feel. Eleanor means well, she wants to relate to the people, to be deserving of her place in history, and yet there is something so funny, a little condescending about it. It comes off as ridiculous and yet there is something tender and delicate about Eleanor, who looked like a bruiser, how deceiving our bodies are.

This is a beautiful love story, Hick’s is there when Eleanor loses Franklin, and even grieves herself with the country for the loss of a great man. She is there to feel the wounds Eleanor suffers when her children are disloyal, as she tells it “Eleanor’s body is the landscape of my true home.” It’s fascinating someone who came from dirt was able to make her way into the household of the White House, and into the heart of Eleanor. That Franklin tolerated it seems very progressive considering the times, and of course he had his freedom to devour the ladies, which he did with gusto but one wonders what sort of man he must have been, to allow this affair to flourish under his roof. Yes, theirs was a marriage of convenience, nothing shocking there really, but someone with his power, particularly in those days, could easily deny his wife her romantic freedoms.

What a read! I adored Hick. I don’t always devour fictional novels about real people, in fact the idea often horrifies me because the liberty fiction gives the author seems to rob people of their truth. Yet I’ve read a few that have really moved me and I add this one to that list of favorites. This is one to add to your TBR pile in 2018!

Publication Date: February 13, 2018

Random House

Was this review helpful?

Amy Bloom's new novel illuminates a relationship I've heard about but didn't know about--that of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickock. This story is Miss Hickocks.

Despite her talent as a writer, and her gritty ability to rise above her depressing childhood, this first-person story still unfolds as one of loss rather than achievement. Clearly that was Amy Bloom's artistic choice and it was an interesting one. I would have preferred to look at Hickock's career and her personal life through a rosier lens, but that would be a different book. WHITE HOUSES is a story of love, and longing, but not one of fulfillment.

I have not read any contemporaneous accounts of Eleanor Roosevelt's relationship with Miss Hickock, so my impressions are dependent on Miss Bloom's fidelity to her sources. The story paints a picture of a passionate relationship filled with challenges, frustrations, and a political and social environment that would not condone a male homosexual "outted" in the administration---so, what would it look like if the First Lady is engaged in a scandalous relationship?

I appreciated the exposure to this relationship through Ms. Bloom's novel. It was emotionally draining for me as a reader -- so, I can only imagine the toll the relationship took on Ms. Roosevelt and Ms. Hickock. I would enjoyed a more balanced perspective on the two women's lives , but this was Ms. Hickock's story--I finished the book curious as to whether Eleanor Roosevelt's account would have differed.

In essence, I found Lorena Hickock a sympathetic character, but not a particularly appealing one. I found it challenging to imagine her as an object of love for Elinor Roosevelt.

Was this review helpful?

In "White Houses," Amy Bloom endeavors to describe. In lush romantic prose, the feelings that may have existed between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her dear friend Lorena Hicock. Upon finishing the book, I immediately started googling the myriad cousins and/or mistresses that played a role in FDR's life as well as several other side characters. I feel my reading experience would have been greatly enriched had I known more about them.

Was this review helpful?

This is really three and a half stars rounded up. I was not completely conquered by this novel because, after an interesting beginning about Hick's triumph over adversity during childhood, the author stopped looking at the historical background and went into endless descriptions of feelings and... more feelings. Possibly my expectations were wrong and the author wanted this to be all about love rather than history. Great if you want to read a love story but don't be fooled: this is not really a historical novel.

Was this review helpful?

Lorena Hickok, better known as Hick, met Eleanor Roosevelt while working as a reporter in 1932, just before Franklin D. Roosevelt became President of the United States. This was the beginning of the love story that consumed both hearts for the rest of their lives. Lorena had grown up dirt poor in small town USA. She was abused and lonely but her quick wit and determination led her to become the nation’s best known female reporter. Eleanor, distant niece of Theodore and fifth cousin of Franklin grew up in a famous wealthy family and attended English finishing school. She was undoubtedly the most famous First Lady and her desire to save the world one act of kindness at a time filled her years in the White House with incomparable success. She and Franklin had six children. Franklin had many, many relationships outside of the marriage and Eleanor had Hick. Hick was known as the First Friend. Narrated through Hick’s sharp, humorous, intelligence and deep love for Eleanor this fast paced peek into the lives of these fascinating women was completely unputdownable. I have loved all of author Amy Blooms’ novels and this latest is at the very top of my must read 2018 list. Her writing and choice of words as the story was whispered in my ear captured my imagination and heart. Amy Bloom has put her magical touch on these historical figures and it is as if she went back in time and they told her what to write. Highly recommend this incredible read.

Was this review helpful?

I dont usually read books like this, but I was drawn to it after reading the description. I wasn't disappointed. I will recommend this to friends and read other books by this author.

Was this review helpful?

I've always admired Eleanor Roosevelt for her accomplishments and courage and now I also admire Lorena Hickok, her friend and companion. "Hick" narrates WHITE HOUSES and describes her godawful childhood and her journalistic success as an AP reporter. Hick interviews ER for the AP before FDR's first presidential campaign and the two women become close friends for their entire lives, Hick even living in the White House off and on.

Was this review helpful?

Only got a third of the way thru this book before I put it down. Maybe because I have read so much about Eleanor Roosevelt?? Probably will not recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

“In many dreams I've held you near,
Now, at last, you're really here.
“Where have you been?
I've looked for you forever and a day
Where have you been?
I'm just not myself when you're away”
-- Where Have You Been lyrics by Kathy Mattea

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was campaigning to become the 32nd President, Lorena Hickok was one of many reporters covering his campaign. Through this, she meets, and is befriended by Eleanor Roosevelt, despite their vast differences, economically and scholastically. Where Lorena Hickok, or “Hick” as she was called, was raised in an impoverished part of South Dakota, among the poorest of the poor, sexually abused, physically abused, and always, always hungry. Eleanor was raised without need. Hick worked in a man’s world, and could be brash and sometimes vulgar. Eleanor was the poster woman for compassion and endurance.

Their friendship may not have been rooted in conventional backgrounds, but their friendship blossomed, nevertheless. After FDR’s election, her status as “first friend” was a well know, if not openly acknowledged, state of affairs. And as this relationship deepens into more than just infatuation, more than just friendship, their bond becomes something seemingly unbreakable.

Amy Bloom gives us a glimpse into the private lives of these two public women, and the love they shared behind closed doors. What Bloom does bring to this is a wonderful insight into the times, and how these two women met and were irresistibly drawn to the other, seeing in each other the pieces that were missing in their lives. How their love changes over time. It is a love song, with a lifetime of verses.

Throughout, this story is relayed with a bit of veneration for their beautiful life-long love, a wonderfully imagined and told story of love. The writing seems subtly perceptive, if not consistently elevated, but there are moments, most notably the final chapter, which were so beautifully written that it took my breath away.



Pub Date 13 Feb 2018


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Random House

Was this review helpful?

First off, thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of White Houses. So, I am not really sure how I feel about this book. I was very excited to read it as I love historical fiction and Eleanor Roosevelt is a fascinating person that I was eager to read more about (albeit in a fictional setting). While I found the story interesting, I was often times confused. It may just be me, but I had trouble in some places keeping track of some of the characters and what the point was the author was trying to make. Also, this book focuses a lot more on "Hick" who is a fascinating character though I did not relate to her often throughout the book. And it takes a rather disparaging view of FDR which may be based on reality but I was surprised (need to go back and read up on this some more). The book was well written and about an engaging person/time in history, but I just did not feel connected to the characters or the story like I was hoping. Glad I read it as it was of interest to me, but left me feeling somewhat disappointed in the end.

Was this review helpful?

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35879608-white-houses" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="White Houses" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504622710m/35879608.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35879608-white-houses">White Houses</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/115220.Amy_Bloom">Amy Bloom</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2205392174">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book is a work of fiction based on the relationship of Eleanor Roosevelt and her long time friend and companion, Lorena Hickock. Lorena’s voice narrates this story. <br />They both seemed to be lost souls that found together, what they both never had in life, and it was written in a beautiful and intimate way. <br /><br />Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy!
<br/><br/>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

Was this review helpful?

This is the story of the love affair between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. Even though Lorena had a very tough early life, she didn't give up. She worked hard and became a reporter. Eleanor and Lorena met when she was reporting on Franklin D. Roosevelt. Even though this is historical fiction, it seemed so real. It was easy to tell how much they loved each other. It was a good book!

Was this review helpful?

After highly anticipating this novel I was very disappointed by it. The author makes it clear from her notes that this is a complete work of fiction, and I feel that she has devalued these women in the way she portrays them. There was no real character development, no attempt to understand who these two larger than life women really were.

Was this review helpful?

This is a work of historical fiction about first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her romantic relationship with American journalist Lorena Hickok (nicknamed "Hick"). Born in Wisconsin, Hickok triumphed over a disastrous childhood to eventually become a reporter for the Associated Press (AP). She was assigned to cover Franklin D. Roosevelt's first presidential campaign when she established a close friendship with the future First Lady.

I had an unusual experience reading this book in that I tore through the first third of the book during a short evening, it was so riveting. This occurred while reading about Hick's horrible childhood. Ironically enough, once I transitioned to the next two thirds of the book covering Hick's existence while living amidst the Franklins, I found it much less interesting. While I had an emotional investment in the trevails of Hick's wretched youth and admired her triumph over adversity, I didn't feel that connection to the adult version of her character. I'm not sure if it comes down to her not being likeable or a lack of depth to the writing. Perhaps the sheer poignancy of her upbringing was enough to lure me in, but the rest of the book (sadly) left me wanting.

Was this review helpful?

This was an extremely well written book and worthy of a read to anyone who is interested in the life of Eleanor Roosevelt and her life.

Was this review helpful?

I enjoyed this fictionalization of the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. The narrative is from the POV of Hick and, in addition to detailing their relationship, hidden in plain sight, it gives Hickok’s backstory, which is absolutely fascinating in itself. Fast paced and striking the perfect tone, this is a fun and interesting read.

Was this review helpful?

Excellent historical fiction novel based on the life of Lenora Hickok and her relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt.

Was this review helpful?

It has taken me a long time to get through this. Mixing fact with fiction is always tricky. No one except Lorena and Eleanor really know what was said or how they acted behind closed doors. I just didn’t find Lorena or her story that interesting.

Was this review helpful?