Blink Book Review #10: “The First Ladies” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Another historical fiction for the win with “The First Ladies” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. After I really enjoyed “The Personal Librarian” earlier in the summer, this newest book by the same authors piqued my interest.

This is the story of friendship, political will, and a passion for righting wrongs that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Black activist Mary McLeod Bethune shared. 

Many of the issues familiar in today’s culture – race, gender and divisive politics - played a big role in how these two women made their way through their individual and shared lives. Together, they wielded a behind-the-scenes power that changed the course of the civil rights movement in our country.

Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune’s lives ran parallel and intersected repeatedly both in spite of and because of their shared vision for civil rights, equal education and social justice in the country. Plus, they forged a personal friendship that crossed racial lines unheard of at the time. The book is structured between alternating chapters in each woman’s voice which made the audio version particularly enjoyable.

After doing a little more research on Mary McLeod Bethune because of her roots in Mayesville, South Carolina, I realized that this book, like “The Personal Librarian,” is so soundly grounded in historical accuracy. As a matter of fact, one of the stories Mrs. Bethune tells in the book is about how her passion for reading was ignited as a very young child. Interestingly, that same story showed up in a recent column by the SC Superintendent of Education about the importance of reading.

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In 2022, I set out to get off the screens and back to books for the summer. I set a goal of reading a book a week. My accountability was writing short Blink Book Reviews (so short you can read them in a blink). Join my Blink Book Review Facebook group to follow along for the 2023 summer series. 

 

 


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