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White Houses

A Novel

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White Houses

Written by: Amy Bloom
Narrated by: Tonya Cornelisse
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About this listen

For readers of The Paris Wife and The Swans of Fifth Avenue comes a “sensuous, captivating account of a forbidden affair between two women” (People).

Eleanor Roosevelt and “first friend” Lorena Hickok.

Named one of the best books of the year by:

  • Financial Times
  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • New York Public Library
  • Refinery29
  • Real Simple

Lorena Hickok meets Eleanor Roosevelt in 1932 while reporting on Franklin Roosevelt's first presidential campaign. Having grown up worse than poor in South Dakota and reinvented herself as the most prominent woman reporter in America, "Hick", as she's known to her friends and admirers, is not quite instantly charmed by the idealistic, patrician Eleanor. But then, as her connection with the future first lady deepens into intimacy, what begins as a powerful passion matures into a lasting love, and a life that Hick never expected to have.

She moves into the White House, where her status as "first friend" is an open secret, as are FDR's own lovers. After she takes a job in the Roosevelt administration, promoting and protecting both Roosevelts, she comes to know Franklin not only as a great president but as a complicated rival and an irresistible friend, capable of changing lives even after his death. Through it all, even as Hick's bond with Eleanor is tested by forces both extraordinary and common, and as she grows as a woman and a writer, she never loses sight of the love of her life.

From Washington, D.C. to Hyde Park, from a little white house on Long Island to an apartment on Manhattan's Washington Square, Amy Bloom's new novel moves elegantly through fascinating places and times, written in compelling prose and with emotional depth, wit, and acuity.

Praise for White Houses:

“Amy Bloom brings an untold slice of history so dazzlingly and devastatingly to life, it took my breath away.” (Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife)

“Vivid and tender...Bloom - interweaving fact and fancy - lavishes attention on [Hickok], bringing Hick, the novel’s narrator and true subject, to radiant life.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)

©2018 Amy Bloom (P)2018 Random House Audio
Biographical Fiction Fiction Literary Fiction Franklin D Roosevelt Roosevelt Family First Lady
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What the critics say

"A remarkably intimate and yet informative novel of the secret, scandalous love of Eleanor Roosevelt and her longtime friend and companion Lorena Hickok, who relates the tale in her own, quite wonderful voice." (Joyce Carol Oates)
"Amy Bloom illuminates one of the most intriguing relationships in history. Lorena Hickok is a woman who found love with another lost soul, Eleanor Roosevelt. And love is what this book is all about: It suffuses every page, so that by the time you reach the end, you are simply stunned by the beauty of the world these two carved out for themselves." (Melanie Benjamin, author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue)

"Hick's pragmatic personality and wry sense of humor, well portrayed by narrator Tonya Cornelisse, determine the production's point of view, pace, and tone. Eleanor's patrician elocution and humanitarian sensibilities are depicted without imitation. Listeners discover the scope of the women's connection through various lenses, such as shared childhood tales on a train trip and a letter from Eleanor's cousin Parker Fiske. Cornelisse delivers these sections in a style that adds emotional dimension to the story." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about White Houses

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