The latest novel from Amy Bloom (Lucky Us) is an achingly beautiful love story that unfolds through the eyes of Lorena Hickok, known as Hick, a great journalist and author who lived in the White House with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as "her very special friend." They were lovers, which was understood by family, the White House staff and even President Roosevelt.

Hick, who grew up amid poverty and abuse in South Dakota, stands by Eleanor's side at events for many years, though she is cut out of most pictures. Like many relationships that are relegated to the shadows, Hick and Eleanor's love exists in many incarnations over the decades. They part and come back together time and time again, sometimes as lovers, sometimes seeking the solace of familiarity, always trying to know each other completely.

Bloom brings incredible dimension to her historical figures, especially the wise and savvy Hick, who is apt to quote Emily Dickinson, Samuel Johnson or Shakespeare. Hick's relationship with FDR is rendered with remarkable clarity, as she watches him give passionate speeches to inspire a nation during wartime, and as his withering body, ravaged by polio, is carried up the stairs at bedtime. Hick knows that Eleanor will never leave him, and despite her respect for the man, her jealousy can never be resolved.

White Houses is so gorgeously written that some passages need to be read more than once, or perhaps aloud, to fully appreciate their craftsmanship. A Roosevelt cousin describes Hick as erudite. To call this novel the same would be an understatement.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Behind the Book essay by Amy Bloom on White Houses.

This article was originally published in the February 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Acclaimed author Amy Bloom dramatizes the love that blossomed between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena "Hick" Hickok in her well-crafted novel White Houses. In 1945, following a separation of eight years, Hick pays Eleanor a visit. Franklin Roosevelt is dead, and World War II is nearing an end. The reunion sparks memories for Hick, who looks back on her life. After a rough upbringing in South Dakota, she becomes a successful journalist, covering politics for The Associated Press. She meets Eleanor in 1932, and their connection intensifies over time. Hick moves into the White House and eventually works for the Roosevelt administration. As chaotic political events unfold, the love between the two women proves to be a lasting force. Skillfully mixing fact and fiction, Bloom creates a poignant portrait of the pair—two kindred spirits who were ahead of their time. Fans of historical novels will find much to savor in Bloom's moving book.

 

This article was originally published in the November 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

New York Times best seller Bloom (Lucky Us), a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, draws inspiration from real-life figures as she reimagines the deep friendship between AP reporter Lorena Hickok and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The novel is told from Hickok's perspective, opening with her childhood and eventually intertwining her life and the First Lady's as we are taken behind the scenes at the White House, where Hickok lived. (She also had a little white house on Long Island, hence the title.) With a three- to five-city tour.

Lorena "Hick" Hickok was a hard-boiled newspaper reporter, but she showed her tender side to the love of her life, Eleanor Roosevelt. In this new novel by the acclaimed author of Lucky Us, Hick tells her story in her own brash voice. Hick and Eleanor could not have been more different. Eleanor was genteel, patrician, and private, the opposite of Lorena. Both women had unhappy childhoods, but Hick's was brutal. She escaped grinding poverty and an abusive father in South Dakota, working as a hired girl before joining a circus. By the time Eleanor meets her in 1932, Hick is a respected AP reporter. Hick moves into the White House, taking a job in the Roosevelt administration, though Eleanor's portly companion was usually cut out of any official photos. Told from Hick's perspective, the novel embraces not just the White House but Hick's little white house on Long Island, hence the title. VERDICT Imagining intimate scenes between these two women and portraying Franklin D. Roosevelt in all his complexity, with his own dalliances and foibles, Bloom brings the Roosevelts and their world vividly to the page, giving an unforgettable voice to the larger-than-life Lorena. An original, richly textured, and beautifully written love story. [See Prepub Alert, 9/11/17.]—Leslie Patterson, Rehoboth, MA

Bloom, finalist for the National Book Award (for Come to Me), brings to life Eleanor Roosevelt through the eyes of her lover, Lorena "Hick" Hickok, in this fiery historical novel. After eight years apart, Hick visits Eleanor following the death of F.D.R. just months before the end of WWII. Seeing her old friend and lover inspires Hick to reflect on trips the car trip they took to Maine during their initial courtship while Franklin Roosevelt was still governor of New York. It was on this trip that Hick first divulged her life story to Eleanor: growing up in an abusive home in rural South Dakota, leaving as a teenager to work as a housemaid, being hired as a receptionist for a traveling circus, and starting a career in journalism in Chicago. Hick eventually worked the politics beat at the Associated Press before leaving due to her close relationship to the Roosevelts. Bloom beautifully captures the affection the women felt for each other by revealing hushed schemes and stolen moments of passion against the backdrop of world-changing events that end up driving Eleanor and Hick apart. Cleverly structured through reminiscences that slowly build in intimacy, Bloom's passionate novel beautifully renders the hidden love of one of America's most guarded first ladies. (Mar.)