Sparked My Interest, but Lacking as Well...
Although the subject matter and the time period in US history is fascinating, I found the book dissapointing. It seemed like a lot of fluff and not enough facts, but perhaps I am comparing this with a true work of non-fiction. And it isn't fair to compare a work of fiction based on fact the same as a true biography. I have read alot about FDR, yet in this book I was never sure if the events really happened as the author portrayed, or if they happened at all. A lot of breadth is given a writer of historical fiction, but I still yearned for the real facts. "Hey, where are the footnoted sources???", that sort of a thing. If historical accuracy and true facts and details are not important, than this might be a good read for you. It was light and easy. I could not help but wonder each chapter, "Did they really meet for a drive in the country??? Was Lucy really that innocent???" Since the book is told in the voice of Lucy, I couldn't help but wonder what was going through Eleanor's mind at the same time.
Romance Novel
The following clip sums this book up:
"He'd spent the day juggling half a dozen problems here and abroad, but that small oval cutout in my shirtwaist kept distracting him. That cutout, he said, was his window on the world."
There were some nice moments in this book, but too much heaving bodice for me. If you like historical romance, you'll probably really enjoy this book. It is a cut above in that respect.
If you want depth, it will annoy you. Historical facts are not seamlessly woven into the narrative, and stand out as if cut and pasted. Feldman tries, has brief success, but ultimately fails to bring the peices of FDR, Eleanor, and Lucy to a full bodied life.
P-U -- Everyone is one-dimentional! Save your money!
Franklin -- always upbeat! Never a down moment in the entire novel; in fact, in his entire career! Is this believable? And he told story after story "out of school." Delighted in it; in fact. A different time, I know, but... Good Lord! Is it true that FDR was such a ... gossip? Such an unlikeable person? Who could EVER trust this man as a friend? If he told such stories about others, wouldn't he tell them about you? The book is unbelievable. Everyone is one-dimentional. FDR -- stand-up-comic about everything confidential in his administration; Eleanor, saint personified... as, of course is Lucy. Geeze! Some truth, some revelations about the REAL people, would be interesting! Save your bucks. You'll learn nothing here.
Historical fiction at its best
I have always been intrigued with the story of the romanance between FDR and Lucy Mercer. When I ran across this book at a local book store I bought it immediately and moved it ahead of other things that I planned to read. The story is romantic and touching. It gives a different view of Frankling and Eleanor and it shows how history could have so easily have been changed. For those interested in FDR and Eleanor its an interesting read. For those who are romantics at heart, its a warm and beautiful story about love and its lasting endurance.
A Love Affair That Impacted History!
This is the fictional account of a very real love affair, told by "the other woman." The relationship, by itself was not an uncommon one, although the characters could have been created by Edith Wharton. They are east coast, upper-class, elite; patricians to-the-manor-born. It is really not an epic love story like that of Josephine and Napoleon, or Cleopatra and Antony, or even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Fortunately, for history's sake, no one gave up a throne...or the presidency for this love. The three people who comprise the love triangle, however, are of epic proportion - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt and Lucy Mercer. And each of these people, as individuals, and in their relationship to one another, had a major role to play in the course of world events, from the time that Lucy met Franklin and Eleanor, just before World War I, through the Great Depression, until the end of Franklin's life, right before the end of World War II.While reading this novel, I initially thought it to be short on substance - more than fluff, but lacking in weight - perhaps it needed more historical detail. But after reading the book, I was left with a feeling of deep sadness at the poignancy of the love that existed between Lucy and Franklin, and between Eleanor and Franklin. Ellen Feldman has given us Lucy's voice, a woman's voice from a time long ago, (for some reason I remember Lily Bart from Edith Wharton's "House of Mirth"). And that voice tells us the history of a love which is the center of her life - so that the history of the world becomes peripheral. And that one historical viewpoint becomes unique and compelling.
I admire Ms. Feldmans work tremendously. I also admire her courage in writing a historical novel of merit about such famous, public figures. So much has been written about them already - yet few have touched on this subject. Ms. Feldman writes beautifully, with a quiet passion and a certain delicacy. Her characters are well drawn and true.
There is a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt at the end of the book that moved me very much. She says, "[If you] cannot meet the need of someone whom [you] dearly love...you must learn to allow someone else to meet the need, without bitterness or envy, and accept it."
