I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great biography read. Highly recommend. The cover is beautiful.

Eleanor in the Village was an interesting look into how living in Greenwich Village influenced Eleanor's feelings towards many issues that were important in this period of time.. She was such an amazing woman and I love to read anything I can get my hands on about her. A short read and I learned a lot!

I was excited to read this book because I love learning about Eleanor Roosevelt. Unfortunately there was nothing new here. The first half was merely an overview of her early life (half!). When it finally got down to her time in the Village, there was nothing new that couldn't be read in Blanche Wiesen Cook's work, which was frankly better written.

I suppose this is a fine work for someone little versed in ER's story, who just wants a quick, light overview of her life.

A thought provoking book for those who like to read about First Ladies. It provides an opportunity to learn more details about this amazing woman's life.

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 in the Village is a short biography talking about the influence of Greenwich Village on Eleanor Roosevelt. Her friendships there formed a lot of her political opinions and encouraged most of her causes.
This is just a small glimpse into her life, but this portion of her life is a major factor into who she became as a woman, wife and political example.
This book is short, a few hours to read it. The chapters are small but many, which also makes it easy to read a chapter when you have a moment in between all of the other things that keep you busy during the day. I enjoyed reading it, and learning more about one of our most influential first ladies. It would make a great addition to any reading list focusing on the Roosevelt administration.

I was knowledgeable about Eleanor’s life as First Lady. After reading this book, I became better acquainted with her life story before FDR and also her life following his death.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

This title is totally misleading. I've read quite a number of books about Mrs. Roosevelt, FDR, and their relationships inside and outside of marriage, and this book didn't provide much, if any new information from that which has already been written.
The title implies a look at Eleanor's life in New York, independent of her role as First Lady, wife and mother, and while this is touched on lightly, it isn't written about in any depth but merely touched upon.
Disappointing.

I found Eleanor in the Village to be informative, well-written, and inspirational. I highly enjoy books about historical figures and I had never read one on Eleanor Roosevelt until now.

I really enjoyed learning about how she was such a pioneer for women’s rights and so accepting of all kinds of individuals. Hearing about her time in the East Village also made the story that much more interesting because it’s a part of her life that I believe hasn’t been talked about much until this story.

Jen Jarboe Russell’s writing was easy to understand, very well organized and provided insight and perspective into things in Eleanor’s life that I had never even heard of before reading this book. I would even go as far as to compare her writing to the legend himself, Erik Larson. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it to history buffs, feminists, and narrative nonfiction fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC copy. My opinions are my own.

I have read a few books on Eleanor and was a little disappointed that there wasn't more details about her time in the Village. The book details her history - covering everything from childhood to adulthood. There is mention of FDR's affairs, life with her parents and her political involvements. But, I kept waiting for more. I was hoping for a lot more detail about her experiences and life in the Village.
It is a good book if you are a first time reader about Eleanor and are looking for a quick overview of her life. But not if you are looking for more in-depth dirt, behind the scenes information.
Overall, it was well written and I did enjoy the recap of her life.

Every time I walk through Washington Square Park, I look up at the building on the corner of MacDougal Street and Waverly Place. Eleanor Roosevelt lived at 29 Washington Square from 1942 to 1949, one of several residences she occupied in New York’s Greenwich Village throughout her life. Having read many biographies on Eleanor Roosevelt, the time she spent in Greenwich Village always remained a bit of a mystery. The details of her relationship with Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman in the twenties are well-known, as is her teaching job and several other details, but what was it that made Greenwich Village so appealing to Eleanor Roosevelt, how did it influence her, what was life like for her living there during the twenties? There were so many questions I hoped to find answered in Eleanor in the Village, but by the time I finished I realized I learned nothing more than I already knew.

Eleanor in the Village sounded like a great premise, but it woefully under-delivered. I was hoping to read an in-depth and focused story of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life in Greenwich Village, but instead I merely got a compelling digest of her life with some reference to the Village thrown in. Either not enough information is available on the subject to warrant a book on the topic, or this was a rush-job without adequate research, but Eleanor in the Village lacks depth and left me wanting more. Very little of the book deals with the Village, and Ms. Russell never actually manages to show how Eleanor Roosevelt searched for, and eventually found, “Freedom and Identity in New York’s Greenwich Village.“

The history of Greenwich Village is compelling, but it runs alongside the history of Eleanor Roosevelt, instead of being integrated with it. The book merely skims the surface of how she acquired many of the progressive beliefs she became known for through the connections she made there. Some of those connections, and some of her activities, were controversial enough they caught the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, who compiled one of the biggest single files in the FBI on Eleanor Roosevelt. Quite some pages are spend on this dossier, but they add very little to the narrative that isn’t known already. In telling Eleanor Roosevelt’s life as a whole, instead of focusing on this particular period of her life, Eleanor in the Village does not live up to its full potential.

All in all, Eleanor in the Village is well-written, and I imagine a delightful read for those who don’t know much about Eleanor Roosevelt. For those who do, don’t let the book’s title mislead you into thinking it is something it isn’t.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

This quick read provides a holistic overview of Eleanor Roosevelt's life and legacy. Others have noted, and I agree, that the book's title is a bit misleading as the focus of the book is not an extended deep dive into Eleanor's experiences in the Village. That said, the author seems to draw a parallel between the ideals and vibe of the Village and that of Eleanor herself. This book left me wanting to learn more about Eleanor's friendships and relationships throughout her life, especially those she cultivated while living in the Village.

As an educator, I believe this book is an appropriate text for students of high school age and older.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book

I loved that this was a quick read that still taught me something new about an amazing, amazing woman. Occasionally I found a sentence or two out of place,, or could have been expanded on. As other reviewers have noted, it really isn't focused on the Village so much as an overview of Eleanor Roosevelt as an activist.

I enjoyed this lovely quick read on the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. I had not previously read much about her at all so this was very informative for an overview. I would anticipate that someone who had read more about Eleanor would not have found this book to be particularly insightful, so I would recommend this more for someone whom this would be a new topic. I didn't learn as much about Greenwich Village as I had expected. Overall a nice read.

This book is a bit misleading in that it implies that the emphasis is on Eleanor Roosevelt’s time in Greenwich Village. It is a brief overview of her life with a little emphasis on her relationships that she developed in Greenwich village. I have a number of biographies on her and many those give more meat to those relationships than you will find here. This is a good book for anyone who has not read much about Eleanor Roosevelt and is looking for a quick overview read of her life.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

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.

Eleanor in the Village by Jan Jarboe Russell is a quick read for anyone wanting to look into the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. It places more of an emphasis on how her time spent in Greenwich Village in New York City and the groups of people she met there would go on to influence her public life as a first lady. This book isn't too long and the writing style is easy to digest and while it does focus on her time in Greenwich Village and it does give a general outline of her life and I think it would be a great jumping off point for anyone who wants to learn about the longest serving first lady in United States history.

I have always enjoyed reading about the Roosevelts and this had a lot of
personal information I haven't seen before so I found it particularly enjoyable. I especially liked the parts about her time in the Village. What I didn't care for was the comparison of Michelle Obama to Eleanor Roosevelt. This is a ludicrous comparison and maybe editing this out before publication would be best!I

Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this arc for my honest opinion.

This book shared a personal side of Eleanor Roosevelt that went beyond her marriage to FDR. The author focuses on Eleanor’s attachment to Greenwich Village and the influence the Village had on her life. By every account, Eleanor was a brilliant and extraordinary woman, a progressive and independent thinker, and an advocate for women’s rights. She was a social justice hero who will be forever remembered in her own right.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.