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A review by _basicbookworm
The First Ladies by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
3.0
The First Ladies is a fictionalized story about the friendship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Black civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. This book describes how these two passionate women came together in an unlikely partnership and describes their friendship and collaboration from the 1920s-1940s.
I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but I was intrigued when I heard about this book featuring two strong and powerful women. I loved this book and learned so much from it about both Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. It was really interesting to read about some of the same events from their very different perspectives and how it gave a much clearer picture of what segregation looked like and its impacts. It was also a bit concerning to this about how much hasn’t changed and how much of what these women fought for is still relevant today.
What really makes this book powerful however, are the authors’ notes. Not only do they describe why it was so important to depict this friendship and the research that went into this book, but they also shared glimpses into their own friendship and some of the challenging conversations they have had as a white woman and a Black woman. Seeing how they relate to Eleanor and Mary in this way really adds an extra special layer to the story they have written.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy.
I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but I was intrigued when I heard about this book featuring two strong and powerful women. I loved this book and learned so much from it about both Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. It was really interesting to read about some of the same events from their very different perspectives and how it gave a much clearer picture of what segregation looked like and its impacts. It was also a bit concerning to this about how much hasn’t changed and how much of what these women fought for is still relevant today.
What really makes this book powerful however, are the authors’ notes. Not only do they describe why it was so important to depict this friendship and the research that went into this book, but they also shared glimpses into their own friendship and some of the challenging conversations they have had as a white woman and a Black woman. Seeing how they relate to Eleanor and Mary in this way really adds an extra special layer to the story they have written.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy.