Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday: Undiscovered Country





Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature that highlights a soon to be released title that I can't wait to read.






This week's pick: Undiscovered Country:  A Novel Inspired by the Lives of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok 
Due out: April 3, 2018

Synopsis taken from Goodreads:


In October 1932, at the tail end of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first presidential campaign, Eleanor Roosevelt took an overnight train from Potsdam to Albany with Lorena “Hick” Hickok, one of the top Associated Press reporters in the country. That train ride marked the beginning of an extraordinary relationship that would last the rest of Hick and Eleanor’s lives.

In Undiscovered Country, Kelly O’Connor McNees adroitly mixes fact and fiction to present an intimate portrait of the love that bloomed between these two women, hidden in plain sight. Using historical records (including the more than three thousand letters the pair exchanged over a span of thirty years), McNees portrays their relationship from their introduction as reporter and subject through their intense first meetings, their burgeoning affair, and the conflicts that arose as journalist Hick’s ethics were hopelessly compromised by her affection for the woman she was supposed to be covering.

A remarkable portrait of Depression-era America (including Hick and Eleanor’s work on the founding of Arthurdale, the federal housing project in West Virginia for homeless ex-miners), Undiscovered Country is thoroughly researched, highly readable, and beautifully subtle—an extraordinary portrayal of one of the greatest unknown love stories in American politics.


1 comment:

Kay said...

These two are a popular duo for writing about lately. I think I've heard of this author before - maybe she wrote something that I read about Louisa May Alcott? This one sounds good.