Book Review: Eleanor in the Village

 

Eleanor in the Village

Eleanor Roosevelt's Search for Freedom and Identity in New York's Greenwich Village

by Jan Jarboe Russell

Scribner 

 Biographies & Memoirs 

Pub Date 30 Mar 2021  

I am reviewing a copy of  Eleanor in the Village through Scribner and Netgalley:

There have been hundreds of books about FDR and Eleanor, both together and separately, but yet she remains a compelling and elusive figure.   There is little known about why  in 1920, Eleanor suddenly abandoned her duties as a mother of five and moved to Greenwich Village, then the symbol of all forms of transgressive freedom communism, homosexuality, interracial relationships, and subversive political activity. Now, in this fascinating, in-depth portrait, Jan Russell pulls back the curtain on Eleanor’s life to reveal the motivations and desires that drew her to the Village and how her time there changed her political outlook.

Eleanor in the Village is both an intriguing and captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with marriage, motherhood,  and financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.   

When Eleanor moved there, the Village was a neighborhood of rogues and outcasts, a zone of Bohemians, misfits, and artists. But there was also freedom there, a miniature society where personal idiosyncrasy could flourish. Eleanor joined the cohort of what then was called “The New Women” in Greenwich Village.  The “new women” in Greenwich had a much more serious agenda than the flappers.  They worked towards organizing for social change—unions for workers, equal pay, protection for child workers—and they insisted on their own sexual freedom. These women often disagreed about politics—some, like Eleanor, were Democrats, others Republicans, Socialists, and Communists. Even after moving into the White House, Eleanor retained connections to the Village, ultimately purchasing an apartment in Washington Square where she lived during World War II and in the aftermath of Roosevelt’s death in 1945.

This book includes the major historical moments that served as a backdrop for Eleanor’s time in the Village, this remarkable work offers new insights into Eleanor’s transformation emotionally, politically, and sexually and provides us with the missing chapter in an extraordinary.

I give Eleanor in the Village five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!