By Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
If you were looking for proof that all of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s best ideas came from his wife, Eleanor, and that all of Eleanor’s best ideas came from her friend, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, then look no further.
The First Ladies is a great Women’s History Month read, as it both enrages and inspires through a fictional interpretation of a very real friendship that changed history. Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was the daughter of formerly enslaved parents, a teacher, an activist, and through an interesting set of circumstances, the close friend and confidante of Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor, initially an advocate for education and eventually an activist for racial and gender equality, is portrayed as not only the fierce and persistent first lady that she was, but also as the uncertain, privileged, and at times, naive woman who became an ally for racial equality only through her openness to witnessing and correcting her own blind spots, through Dr. Bethune’s patience and honesty, and through the dynamic duo’s respect for one another.
It’s a quick read, but it’s packed with nuance as the characters wade through generations of both conscious and unconscious bias and battle all forms of oppression and structural violence.
I really like the format: The story is told from multiple points of view, alternating each chapter, so the reader has the opportunity to view certain events several times, from several angles. It also supports the natural building of the relationship between these two incredible women.
Highly recommend checking it out at your local library, supporting your local book seller, or ordering a copy from ThriftBooks.