In this double biography, Carlton University professor, and author of ten books of history, tries to rehabilitate the lives of the mothers of Winston Churchill and of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In my opinion she fails to do so.
She conveys a lot of information about the culture and times, and I learned a lot of history. However, the superficial aristocratic world that both women grew up in leaves a lot to be desired. Vain Jeanie Churchill spent recklessly on herself, was extremely promiscuous, while one of her husbands, the father of Winston, probably died of tertiary syphilis. Sara Delano Roosevelt was a control freak, unconcerned about the poor around her and for much of her life, opposed to any of the social programs that made her son’s New Deal famous.
The numerous affairs that almost all of the characters engaged in, including FDR, make it seem that marital vows were only for others, and not applicable to the rich and famous, and they seem to be just accepted and even expected by the author.
With my background, I wondered if Jeanie Churchill had Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (gonococcal perihepatitis) and the passing mention of FDR’s kidney problems following a bout of scarlet fever make it likely that he had post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis which may have contributed to his death from a hypertensive stroke years later. The latter is speculative.
I did not enjoy this book, although I learned many details of history.
3/5
Thanks, Kit.
The Passionate Reader 