Bi Book Club

Loving Eleanor: When AP political reporter Lorena Hickok—Hick—is assigned to cover Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the wife of the 1932 Democratic presidential candidate, the two women become deeply, intimately involved. Their relationship begins with mutual romantic passion, matures through stormy periods of enforced separation and competing interests, and warms into an enduring, encompassing friendship that ends only with both women’s deaths in the 1960s—all of it documented by 3300 letters exchanged over thirty years.

Now, New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert recreates the fascinating story of Hick and Eleanor, set during the chaotic years of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War. Loving Eleanor is Hick’s personal story, revealing Eleanor as a complex, contradictory, and entirely human woman who is pulled in many directions by her obligations to her husband and family and her role as the nation’s First Lady, as well as by a compelling need to care and be cared for. For her part, Hick is revealed as an accomplished journalist, who, at the pinnacle of her career, gives it all up for the woman she loves. Then, as Eleanor is transformed into Eleanor Everywhere, First Lady of the World, Hick must create her own independent, productive life.

Drawing on extensive research in the letters that were sealed for a decade following Hick’s death, Albert creates a compelling narrative: a dramatic love story, vividly portraying two strikingly unconventional women, neither of whom is satisfied to live according to the script society has written for her. Loving Eleanor is a profoundly moving novel that illuminates a relationship we are seldom privileged to see and celebrates the depth and durability of women’s love.

Come and join the discussion, even if you haven't read the book. We take turns reading passages aloud from the book and discuss them-anyone can participate!

The Bi Book Club meets once a month to discuss bi-themed books and the issues they raise. Dinner after nearby.

Getting Books: We urge you to order your print copies at BGSQD and support the only LGBT bookstore in New York City. Bureau of General Services Queer Division (http://bgsqd.com/) Bookstore at the LGBT Center, 2nd fl. Rm. 210, phone (646) 457-0859.

Several NYC libraries may have copies of our current book. You can search any book in their system at this link https://www.nypl.org/books-music-dvds

Bi Book Club meets 2nd Thursdays 6-8pm. Dinner after nearby.

Next book: The Best Laid Plans by Lauren Gallagher

Deciding Books: We will be voting on what books we want to read next, so check our lists of current or past Bisexual Book Award finalists (http://www.biwriters.org/book-award-finalists-winners/) for some ideas.

Questions? Email: fuscialadybug (at) netzero (dot) com or call 917-583-1797