One of my book clubs loves biographical fiction, and an author who writes it so well is Stephanie Dray. This month we chose Becoming Madam Secretary, a novel focused on Frances Perkins, the Labor Secretary under FDR. Oh my! What a fascinating story! Perkins is often referred to as the mother of Social Security. Her career began as a social worker in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City and proceeded to rise as she fought for better working conditions, especially for women. She was a crusader against child labor and helped pass legislation limiting work hours. Dray’s novel is meticulously researched and in the absence of details on Perkin’s private life, she carefully created plausible scenarios. The book comes in at 500+ pages and is not full of a lot of action, but it was certainly an enjoyable, as well as, illuminating read. I highly recommend this book for those who love historical/biographical fiction, especially that highlight the cultural and political events of first part of the 20th century.
Highly recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(I purchased the ebook from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it…
New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins.
Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference.
When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love.
But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he’s a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she’s a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.
Frances is destined to rise in a political world dominated by men, facing down the Great Depression as FDR’s most trusted lieutenant—even as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. And when vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she’s willing to do—and what she’s willing to sacrifice—to save a nation.
Stephanie Dray is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into ten languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. She lives in Maryland with her husband, cats, and history books.
I’ve heard good things about this book. I had never heard of Frances Perkins before, but she is definitely a trailblazer.
We had not heard of her either. Everyone I have talked to has loved it.