Alice & Edith : A Biographical Novel of the Two Wives of Theodore Roosevelt

Dorothy Clarke Wilson

ISBN 10: 0385243499 / ISBN 13: 9780385243490

Published by Doubleday, 1989

About this Item

First Edition, First Printing. Not price-clipped. Published by Doubleday, 1989. Octavo. Hardcover. Book is like new. Dust jacket is like new with very light shelf wear.100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Alice & Edith : A Biographical Novel of the Two Wives of Theodore Roosevelt
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385243499
• ISBN 13: 9780385243490
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Like New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

A fictional portrait traces the lives of Teddy Roosevelt's two wives, Alice Lee and Edith Carow, a lifelong friend and Roosevelt's spouse during his political ascendency

Reviews

The best biographical novels use fiction to weave facts into a cohesive, compelling whole. Unfortunately, this latest offering from the author of Queen Dolley , Lady Washington and Lincoln's Mothers is weak on both counts. The author's extensive research into the lives of Theodore Roosevelt's two wives has produced what is mainly a collection of anecdotes which, while often interesting, are frequently included on the flimsiest excuses, thereby sidetracking the narrative. The fictional framework is further strained by awkward dialogue and Wilson's tendency to tell us that the protagonists are good, depressed, loving, haunted--instead of allowing the characters themselves to persuade us of these facts. In the end, neither Roosevelt's alternately "sweet, pretty" or "little, pink" first wife, Alice Lee, who died after three and a half years of marriage, nor Edith Carow, his wife of 36 years, who ruled both the White House and Sagamore with "an iron hand scarcely hidden in the velvet glove" are convincingly sympathetic. Even TR, for all his goodnatured bluster and liberal convictions, seems lifeless in Wilson's portrayal. (Nov.).
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A distinguished, long-time author, Wilson has written a biographical novel of the lives of Teddy Roosevelt's two wives, Alice Lee and Edith Carow, that is primarily a barely fictionalized retelling of the life of Edith Carow Roosevelt. The book is marred initially by excessive, mediocre dialogue; elsewhere, it is pleasant to read, accurate, backed by an excellent bibliography that includes periodicals and serials, as well as books. Alice and Edith might have been better, more useful in the long run, as straight biography, but libraries having significant numbers of Sagamore Hill Roosevelt fans may wish to consider for purchase, as TR is well-portrayed within its pages.
- Alice Cronin, Mountainside P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.