ELEANOR IN THE VILLAGE

A study of how a New York City community nurtured Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and thought.

Relying mostly on published biographies, journalist Russell offers a sympathetic portrait of Roosevelt, highlighting her long connection to Greenwich Village society and politics. Roosevelt’s childhood was grim: Feeling rejected by her mother, she was distanced from her adored father because of his alcoholism and mental instability. Her cousin Franklin’s love bolstered her self-esteem even though his mother, Sara, disapproved of their marriage—and persistently interfered with their lives. In 1918, Eleanor’s discovery of Franklin’s affair with Lucy Mercer was shattering. “The bottom dropped out of my own particular world,” Eleanor wrote, “& I faced myself, my surroundings, my world, honestly for the first time.” Sara forbade the couple to divorce, convinced it would end her son’s political future. Consequently, the marriage transformed into “a professional collaboration between equals,” allowing Eleanor to pursue her own friendships and interests. Beginning in 1920, she kept an apartment in Greenwich Village. Her commitment to socially and politically progressive causes and her Village friends—many of whom were lesbians—roused the suspicions of J. Edgar Hoover, who amassed a huge file on Eleanor, which burgeoned after she became first lady. Despite growing independence, Eleanor cared devotedly for her husband after he contracted polio in 1921, keeping his name before the public and pushing him to pursue his dream of a political career. In 1929, he became New York’s governor, and in 1932, Eleanor campaigned heartily during his run for the presidency. Besides chronicling Eleanor’s evolution as a public figure in her own right, Russell examines her flirtations and affairs, especially with newspaperwoman Lorena Hickok. The author makes much of Eleanor’s connection to the Village, even wondering “if FDR ever would have become president were it not for Eleanor’s ongoing and transformative experiences in the Village.” Her brisk biography, though, doesn’t support that wistful speculation.

An admiring profile of an estimable woman.