Reviews
"A well-researched dual biography. . . . Fast paced and engaging, this work will enthrall readers of presidential biographies and LGBTQ studies." -- Library Journal "Quinn deftly explores how the unlikely relationship evolved, relying on correspondence between the women, oral histories in archives, various government documents, and numerous other sources that allow readers to learn a great deal about normally private affairs.... A relentlessly captivating study of two remarkable individuals who helped extend the roles of American women in the public policy realm."-- Kirkus Reviews (starred) "Susan Quinn's tender book of love and loyalty--set during the most tumultuous time of the twentieth century--reads like a whispered confidence. The forbidden relationship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and hardscrabble journalist Lorena Hickok is one of the great love affairs in history, and yet it has remained largely untold. Thanks to Quinn, their beautiful and courageous story is a secret no longer."--Mary Gabriel, author of Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution , finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award "In telling with vivid detail the story of a remarkable relationship between two strong women, Susan Quinn has provided a new way to look at some of the most momentous events of the twentieth century. Eleanor and Hick is delightful, moving, penetrating history."--David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story "Eleanor Roosevelt's love affair with ace AP reporter Lorena Hickok, carried on just outside public view during the most public years of their lives, fascinates and inspires in Susan Quinn's irresistible telling. Eleanor and Hick is a powerfully moving and vital story that could not have been told in its day, and alters radically what we thought we knew about America's most influential and best-loved First Lady." -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life "This is an important and probably unique biography in the history of the U.S. presidency. The special virtue of Eleanor and Hick is that Susan Quinn permits us to see how Eleanor Roosevelt's long, intimate relationship with Lorena Hickok helped her become not just a First Lady but a great one: courageous, committed, compassionate--and complicated. A triumph." --Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of Command, "Quinn has produced an intimate book, tender and wise." --Stacy Schiff, Washington Post "Things were different then: The public didn't know the extent of FDR's disability or that his wife had an affair with Lorena Hickok. Quinn's bio recounts the latter in fascinating detail."-- People "Quinn tells Eleanor's always astonishing story from a freshly illuminating perspective and brings forward to resounding effect intrepid, eloquent, compassionate, and tough Hick. With episodes hilarious, stunning and heartbreaking, Quinn's compellingly intimate chronicle tells the long-camouflaged story of a morally and intellectually spirited, taboo-transcending, and world-bettering love."-- Booklist "A well-researched dual biography. . . . Fast paced and engaging, this work will enthrall readers of presidential biographies and LGBTQ studies." -- Library Journal "Quinn deftly explores how the unlikely relationship evolved, relying on correspondence between the women, oral histories in archives, various government documents, and numerous other sources that allow readers to learn a great deal about normally private affairs.... A relentlessly captivating study of two remarkable individuals who helped extend the roles of American women in the public policy realm."-- Kirkus Reviews (starred) "Susan Quinn's tender book of love and loyalty--set during the most tumultuous time of the twentieth century--reads like a whispered confidence. The forbidden relationship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and hardscrabble journalist Lorena Hickok is one of the great love affairs in history, and yet it has remained largely untold. Thanks to Quinn, their beautiful and courageous story is a secret no longer."--Mary Gabriel, author of Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution , finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award "In telling with vivid detail the story of a remarkable relationship between two strong women, Susan Quinn has provided a new way to look at some of the most momentous events of the twentieth century. Eleanor and Hick is delightful, moving, penetrating history."--David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story "Eleanor Roosevelt's love affair with ace AP reporter Lorena Hickok, carried on just outside public view during the most public years of their lives, fascinates and inspires in Susan Quinn's irresistible telling. Eleanor and Hick is a powerfully moving and vital story that could not have been told in its day, and alters radically what we thought we knew about America's most influential and best-loved First Lady." -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life "This is an important and probably unique biography in the history of the U.S. presidency. The special virtue of Eleanor and Hick is that Susan Quinn permits us to see how Eleanor Roosevelt's long, intimate relationship with Lorena Hickok helped her become not just a First Lady but a great one: courageous, committed, compassionate--and complicated. A triumph." --Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of Command, "This is an important and probably unique biography in the history of the U.S. presidency. . . . The special virtue of Eleanor and Hick is that Susan Quinn permits us to see how Eleanor Roosevelt's long, intimate relationship with Lorena Hickok helped her become not just a First Lady but a great one: courageous, committed, compassionate--and complicated. A triumph." --Nigel Hamilton, author of Mantle of Command, "Quinn has produced an intimate book, tender and wise."--Stacy Schiff, The Washington Post "Fascinating."-- People "A delightful account."-- 1843 (The Economist) "Apart from chronicling a beautiful and complex friendship, Quinn also makes a strong case here that Eleanor Roosevelt was the most politically significant first lady America has ever had."-- Bookpage "Eleanor and Hick marvelously weaves the lives of these two women together, showing their fierce independence and yet continual dependence on each other. The book also reflects a refreshing change in cultural opinion, most likely one that will usher in books on other historical homosexual relationships just as well-researched and kind."-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Quinn tells Eleanor's always astonishing story from a freshly illuminating perspective and brings forward to resounding effect intrepid, eloquent, compassionate, and tough Hick. With episodes hilarious, stunning and heartbreaking, Quinn's compellingly intimate chronicle tells the long-camouflaged story of a morally and intellectually spirited, taboo-transcending, and world-bettering love."-- Booklist "A well-researched dual biography. . . . Fast paced and engaging, this work will enthrall readers of presidential biographies and LGBTQ studies." -- Library Journal "Quinn deftly explores how the unlikely relationship evolved, relying on correspondence between the women, oral histories in archives, various government documents, and numerous other sources that allow readers to learn a great deal about normally private affairs.... A relentlessly captivating study of two remarkable individuals who helped extend the roles of American women in the public policy realm."-- Kirkus Reviews (starred) "Susan Quinn's tender book of love and loyalty--set during the most tumultuous time of the twentieth century--reads like a whispered confidence. The forbidden relationship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and hardscrabble journalist Lorena Hickok is one of the great love affairs in history, and yet it has remained largely untold. Thanks to Quinn, their beautiful and courageous story is a secret no longer."--Mary Gabriel, author of Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution , finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award "In telling with vivid detail the story of a remarkable relationship between two strong women, Susan Quinn has provided a new way to look at some of the most momentous events of the twentieth century. Eleanor and Hick is delightful, moving, penetrating history."--David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story "Eleanor Roosevelt's love affair with ace AP reporter Lorena Hickok, carried on just outside public view during the most public years of their lives, fascinates and inspires in Susan Quinn's irresistible telling. Eleanor and Hick is a powerfully moving and vital story that could not have been told in its day, and alters radically what we thought we knew about America's most influential and best-loved First Lady." -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life "This is an important and probably unique biography in the history of the U.S. presidency. The special virtue of Eleanor and Hick is that Susan Quinn permits us to see how Eleanor Roosevelt's long, intimate relationship with Lorena Hickok helped her become not just a First Lady but a great one: courageous, committed, compassionate--and complicated. A triumph." --Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of Command