Eleanor

De: David Michaelis

Narrado por: Gabra Zackman

The New York Times best seller from prize-winning author David Michaelis presents a “stunning” (The Wall Street Journal) breakthrough portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving First Lady, an avatar of democracy whose ever-expanding agency as diplomat, activist, and humanitarian made her one of the world’s most widely admired and influential women.

In the first single-volume cradle-to-grave portrait in six decades, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis delivers a stunning account of Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life of transformation. An orphaned niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, she converted her Gilded Age childhood of denial and secrecy into an irreconcilable marriage with her ambitious fifth cousin Franklin. Despite their inability to make each other happy, Franklin Roosevelt transformed Eleanor from a settlement house volunteer on New York’s Lower East Side into a matching partner in New York’s most important power couple in a generation.

When Eleanor discovered Franklin’s betrayal with her younger, prettier, social secretary, Lucy Mercer, she offered a divorce and vowed to face herself honestly. Here is an Eleanor both more vulnerable and more aggressive, more psychologically aware and sexually adaptable than we knew. She came to accept her FDR’s bond with his executive assistant, Missy LeHand; she allowed her children to live their own lives, as she never could; and she explored her sexual attraction to women, among them a star female reporter on FDR’s first presidential campaign, and younger men.

Eleanor needed emotional connection. She pursued deeper relationships wherever she could find them. Throughout her life and travels, there was always another person or place she wanted to heal. As FDR struggled to recover from polio, Eleanor became a voice for the voiceless, her husband’s proxy in the White House. Later, she would be the architect of international human rights and world citizen of the Atomic Age, urging Americans to cope with the anxiety of global annihilation by cultivating a “world mind.” She insisted that we cannot live for ourselves alone but must learn to live together or we will die together.

This “absolutely spellbinding,” (The Washington Post) “complex and sensitive portrait” (The Guardian) is not just a comprehensive biography of a major American figure, but the story of an American ideal: how our freedom is always a choice. Eleanor rediscovers a model of what is noble and evergreen in the American character, a model we need today more than ever.

©2020 David Michaelis (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

Remarkable Woman, Eleanor

I have always read “of” Eleanor but never enough “about” her until now. I loved the opportunity to read this beautifully written story of her life. it left me sad, in a way. She was so rightly beloved ; her work in human rights won hearts and minds across the globe. But I am not quite sure she was ever “loved”- not in the ways she sought, perhaps. The author gives us entry to the life and mind of one of America’s National heroines in intimate ways that allows us a glimpse , not only of one so passionate about the cause of humanity, but of one who would also want to be known for her character and humanness. Eleanor, with all her energy and drive and conviction, was a force of nature. But she also was a girl, and then a young woman, and then in the middle and end of her life, always seeking the same things that mere mortals also seek: warmth, friendship,intimacy.

Masterful, fascinating and compelling biography of one of the most influential and admirable persons of the 20th century

I was inspired to learn of the challenges and difficult circumstances Eleanor faced as a child and how she channeled that into a determination to face her fears and be of service and the ways in which she found her voice and lived out her integrity with confidence in later life. A remarkable person and a complex life well-told in this comprehensive biography

Entertainment and educational!

Loved it. I had always admired Mrs. Roosevelt but, in truth, knew so little of her dynamic life.

A good read.

Well worth reading, but narration is below average. Especially for hard of hearing. So I missed some content.

I could not get past..

Narrator’s voice was pleasant. The book is well-paced. I could not get past the narrator’s pronunciation of “Eleanor” and “Ellener”. I found it grating and distracting. Silly, perhaps, but it ruined the book for me; I couldn’t bear it past chapter three.

Great Insights into a Fascinating Woman

There was no way that this book wouldn't be captivating because the subject is so complex. The delivery was empathetic and really provided a balanced biographical account of her life without the temptation to turn the book into a form of hero worship. No matter how easy she made it look, Mrs. Roosevelt's life was one of pain, joy and struggle.

Entertaining and knowledgeable

I loved it gave me great insight into a great lady. narratior did a nice job

The power of one woman

I enjoyed the entire book. She was an inspiration to all women everywhere. She is still a very important part of history.

history comes alive. excellent

well written
shows many parallels that we wrestle with today, on the political front
powerful woman
huge heart

Awe Inspiring

Wonderful telling of this ladies life. I feel like I have had a front row seat into this lady’s life.