Points of View

This book is written as a history, told from an all-knowing, narrative point of view. About half of it is told like any other history of great events, such as D-Day and the Yalta Conference. The other half is about the personal and emotional lives of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. It is here that Goodwin writes almost like a psychoanalyst. She delves into their motives and longings, which she traces back to childhood influences. For example, after the death of his mother, she writes that Roosevelt is lonely and grief-stricken and reaches out to become closer to Eleanor, who rejects him. Eleanor's rejection has to do with her great love for her father, who rejected her through his alcoholism, making her distrustful and leery in relationships. These parts of the book become more like a novel written from the interior lives of its characters.

Setting

The...