Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady

Few know of Eleanor Roosevelt’s decades-long relationship with Lorena “Hick” Hickok, an Associated Press reporter assigned to cover her in the early years of F.D.R.’s presidency. Though previous biographies have marginalized or disregarded this relationship, Quinn’s biography delves deeply into the letters and other records to illustrate a powerfully rich love story that affected the world directly and indirectly. Reader Farr turns in a clever performance for the audio edition. At times, she reads in a straightforward manner. At other points in the book her tone, rhythm, and projection changes, and she becomes lively. These shifts help contrast Roosevelt’s public persona as first lady of the United States and her private life with Hick. A Penguin Press hardcover. (Sept.)