This is the story of the friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt, who would eventually be the First Lady of the USA, and Mary McLeod Bethune, whom Eleanor names as the First Lady of the Struggle. They met in 1927 at a formal luncheon hosted by Franklin Roosevelt's mother. When many of the white women in the room refused to sit down with Mrs. Bethune, Eleanor is awakened to the realities of being black in America. This story of their friendship continues through 1945 following President Roosevelt's death and the beginning of Dr. Bethune's career as special consultant to the US delegates preparing to sign into existence the United Nations. In between we see their very public friendship demanding a hard look at the absurdity of segregation, encouraging logical discourse to move the needle on inclusion to various New Deal programs as well as the military, and promoting integration at the highest level of government hoping to shine a light on the need of change everywhere. But it is also about two best friends sharing the hardest parts of their lives as they try to correct some of the worst of American social policy. It is historical FICTION so Benedict and Murray draw from their own intense conversations to give the conversations of these two very important women true voices. They were names I knew a little about from my pathetic knowledge of history but names that deserve so much more credit for our move toward a truly inclusive society.
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