
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction
The First Ladies
Mood
Hopeful, Tender
Parental Rating
PG-13
Mary McLeod Bethune, born to formerly enslaved parents in South Carolina, refuses to back down as white supremacists try to thwart her work as an educator and activist. She builds a school for Black girls in Florida, becomes a revered public figure, and earns the attention of presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt, drawn to Mary's vision and courage, seeks out her friendship, and the two women discover a shared belief in education and women's rights. Told in their alternating voices, the novel traces a partnership that crosses the color line at a moment when the country fought to keep them apart, and follows their work together inside and around the New Deal and the early civil rights movement.
