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Title details for The Three Graces of Val-Kill by Emily Herring Wilson - Available

The Three Graces of Val-Kill

Eleanor Roosevelt, Marion Dickerman, and Nancy Cook in the Place They Made Their Own

by Emily Herring Wilson
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The Three Graces of Val-Kill changes the way we think about Eleanor Roosevelt. Emily Wilson examines what she calls the most formative period in Roosevelt's life, from 1922 to 1936, when she cultivated an intimate friendship with Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, who helped her build a cottage on the Val-Kill Creek in Hyde Park on the Roosevelt family land. In the early years, the three women—the "three graces," as Franklin Delano Roosevelt called them—were nearly inseparable and forged a female-centered community for each other, for family, and for New York's progressive women. Examining this network of close female friends gives readers a more comprehensive picture of the Roosevelts and Eleanor's burgeoning independence in the years that marked Franklin's rise to power in politics.
Wilson takes care to show all the nuances and complexities of the women's relationship, which blended the political with the personal. Val-Kill was not only home to Eleanor Roosevelt but also a crucial part of how she became one of the most admired American political figures of the twentieth century. In Wilson's telling, she emerges out of the shadows of monumental histories and documentaries as a woman in search of herself.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 8, 2017

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

      • ISBN: 9781469635859

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781469635842
      • File size: 7045 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781469635842
      • File size: 7045 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      August 1, 2017

      Wilson (No One Gardens Alone) provides a succinct, inspirational, and intimate look at the friendship former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt shared with two free-spirited women in the home they created together two miles east of the "Big House" in Hyde Park, NY. Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook were Democratic fieldworkers and lifelong partners who worked with Eleanor on a variety of projects, including the Todhunter School on New York's East Side and Val-Kill Industries, a furniture factory that provided jobs to rural farmers. Included are details about the home's financing, construction, and furnishing, and details of the role that President Franklin D. Roosevelt played in its inception. Based on archival research and interviews, Wilson's narrative describes the role that female friendships played throughout Eleanor's life, specifically during the 1920s. The author skillfully interweaves the story of Val-Kill with larger themes in her subject's life, such as Eleanor's troubled marriage, children's relationships, and personal and political friendships. VERDICT For general readers, especially those interested in feminist biography. Those curious about the history and landscape of the Hudson Valley will also appreciate this detailed view of the little cottage on Fall-Kill Creek and its environs.--Marie M. Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ

      Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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