Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC and Berkley #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Becoming Madam Secretary in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Berkley / Penguin Audio
Published: March 12, 2024
Summary:
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 new 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.
My thoughts:
This was a much anticipated read not only for March but for this year and it absolutely delivered in every way! Stephanie Dray is quickly becoming a favorite author for historical fiction and while this is only the second book I’ve read by her, I have her backlist on my tbr, ready to read when I get a chance.
I can’t think of a better book to celebrate Women’s History Month than this one. Frances Perkins is someone who we should all know and yet, I feel that this book is really the first time I completely understood who she was and all that she did. Don’t shy away from this one because of the length. Yes, it is 500 pages, but when I tell you I could have read 500 more pages about this woman, I am not joking!
This book takes us from the time Frances comes to New York and not only follows her career, starting in social work and then moving into politics, but we also see a personal side of her too, her marriage, motherhood, and all the friendships that came to have such an impact on her life. I particularly loved how when she first met Franklin Delano Roosevelt, she didn’t particularly like him, but eventually they became quite a pair.
I did an immersive read, where I paired the audiobook, narrated by the brilliant Cassandra Campbell, along with the print book, and there were so many times that I stopped so that I could mark a passage or quote that I wanted to remember or look into further. Yes, it did take longer that way, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. This is why I love reading historical fiction – I learn so much! The way Stephanie Dray portrays the life of Frances Perkins, she comes alive on the page and I learned more in this book about some of our social and government programs than I did in any government or history classes I took in school. This book covers a big time period – from 1909 to 1963 – and yet it is done so vividly that I found myself completely immersed in the read. And when I was done, I wanted more!
It is quite evident this book is well-researched. I found it to be incredibly readable and I very much appreciated the author’s note at the end where we learn just a little bit more! I can’t wait to find more books on Frances Perkins and I definitely can’t wait to see who Stephanie Dray writes about next!
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