Considered one of the most beautiful woman in the families upper class society, Eleanor Roosevelt's mother, the former Anna Rebecca Ludlow Hall, saw dashing, handsome, charming Elliott Roosevelt and sought to gain his affection. Her beauty won his heart and their large wedding set high standards for those to follow.

Brother of Theodore Roosevelt, Elliott's charms were compared to the boisterous and exceedingly bravado-driven Teddy.
Well dressed, handsome, Elliott fit very well into New York high society. He was considered quite the man to win, and as he drank the finest wines, and expensive champagne, dining in the best houses in New York, he was the popular scion of the very wealthy Roosevelt family.

Traveling throughout the world, early on, Elliott had a penchant for drinking his days away. When she married Elliott, she had no idea that by that time, he was well on his way to alcoholism, and later drug consumption.

At birth, when her mother first looked at her, Anne Eleanor Roosevelt she was deemed a very ugly baby. Furthermore, she said "There were too many wrinkles and the baby looked like an old lady."

There was little interaction, and throughout her childhood and adult life, her mother continued to both taunt and ignore her. As a child, while Anna Eleanor's two younger brothers were welcomed into her mother's arms, while Anna Eleanor was forced to wait outside the library, observing the love given to others. She stood, fingers in her mouth, for an inordinate amount of time before her mother's terse voice said "Ok, you can come in now grannie."

Her protruding teeth went without correction. Her clothes were out of style. Lonely, she sought the solace of books, and hid in a large cherry tree reading for hours. Her coming out party was filled with fear and a deep knowledge that she did not fit in.

While her mother scorned her, it was her father who from the first moment he saw her, adored her. She was his beautiful, soulful daughter, and he was the only one who, not only paid attention to her, but throughout his life, was very intentional in shaping and loving his beautiful gem.

This is the story of the love that saved Eleanor from her mother's admonishment, and shaped her for the rest of her life.

The book is very well written, well researched and fascinating. Sadly, Eleanor's father died of alcoholism when she was a mere ten years old. He remained in her heart and soul, and it was his words that she heard as throughout her life, she not only became the extremely admired wife of her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but was a strong advocate for women's rights, the need to enact systems to help the poor, and create a fair wage and working conditions for those toiling 16 hour days for little pay under terrible conditions.

Throughout her travels, wherever she was, she brought the stack of letters her father had written to her, kissing the letter well-worn, torn from many years of wear.

Four Stars