Eleanor

By: David Michaelis

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

The New York Times bestseller from prizewinning 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.

Critic reviews

"It may not have been until Hillary or Michelle that a first lady garnered nearly as much acclaim as Eleanor Roosevelt. Gabra Zackman narrates Michaelis's biography at just the right pitch. It is never overly dramatic, despite many tragic and heartbreaking events, and steers clear of hagiography. The audiobook engages by recalling life during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Not surprisingly, the story gathers steam once FDR is elected president. Anyone who is not aware of the impact Eleanor had on Franklin will revel at hearing how the first lady moved her husband to take up the plight of the less fortunate. This listen may focus on events of more than a half century ago, but it remains timely to this day."

Improving America

Nicely narrated and chock-full of interesting anecdotes of a shining star in the history of America. Not all is perfection here, but her flaws make her more of a hero in my book than ever before.

Great Book, horrible post production editing.

Eleanor is one of my all time favorite historical figures, I have read pretty much every book about her and or Franklin. So I was able to get through the book in spite of the horrible editing. The narrator's voice alternates randomly between two tones. At first I thought it was an attempt at emphasis or identifying different characters but it isn't. It is almost as if the narrator got tired of retakes and changed her voice to an annoyed hurried tone and this was edited in. It made the book almost un listenable. Changing the playback speed to 130% partly masked the differences and allowed me to finish the listen. I highly recommend the book but not the Audible audio book. I don't fault the narrator at all. I would listen to any book read by her as long as it was not screwed up in editing.

OMG her name is Eleanor!

the narrator mispronounced her name the entire book. Distracted me from an otherwise good biography

exceptional

A detailed account of Eleanor's life and achievements. it was very well presented by G. Zackman. I enjoyed this book very much.

Powerful and thought Provoking !

Fascinating story of an exquisite woman and her life … facts of her childhood and the changes in her maturing to one of Americas great spokesman on issues that n

Stands apart from other biographies of ER

This book stands apart from other ER biographies with intimate descriptions of her life’s struggles and how they influenced her choices and decisions as a girl, woman, lover, wife and mother as well as those as diplomat, First Lady and champion for equality and human rights. The details and effort put into making her very relatable to the reader is a common thread throughout the book in ways I have not experienced reading other biographies.

Glorious

Because of this book, I now see Eleanor as a woman of her own mind and not just “FDR’s legs”

I am now consuming all things Eleanor - in the village is next up.

First Ladies on Showtime and Gillian Anderson have brought Eleanor to life in technicolor.

Eleanor

I loved this book. It allowed learning the personal struggles of a very public person. The book was very well written and easy to follow.

Helps,you understand Eleanor as a person

Overall, Eleanor is informative and we'll written. The book gave me insight into the personal life and personality of Eleanor and her family. My biggest disappointment with this book is I would have liked more details and insight about Eleanor's accomplishments and legacy after FDR's death and how what she made a meaningful difference in the lives of struggling folk. The book constantly referenced how beloved and revered she was by the world towards the end of her life but not why she was so beloved and revered. The book seemed to focus more on her personal life instead of all her accomplishments for social justice.

Amazing woman

I was so enriched by this book. Thank you, David!

The reading was often very good, but I didn’t know why it would go back-and-forth from a wonderful reading tone to a scratchy, harder one. Toward the end of the book she didn’t do that.

Overall, so grateful for this retelling. Informative and inspirational.