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Miller, Sarah

Hick: The Trailblazing Journalist Who Captured Eleanor Roosevelt's Heart

384 pp. | Random/Random House Studio | May, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780593649091 $20.99 | Library ISBN 9780593649107 $23.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780593649114 $12.99
(1) 4-6 Miller's (Hanged, rev. 11/22) compelling biography charts the historic path famed journalist Lorena "Hick" Hickok (1893-1968) took from poverty and obscurity to the role of beloved confidante to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Born in Wisconsin, Hick was raised by an abusive father who threw the fourteen-year-old out following her mother's death. After a series of grueling domestic servant jobs, Hick moved to Michigan, where she graduated from high school with honors in oration and writing. She honed her considerable talent at local newspapers in several Midwest cities, despite prejudice against women in the newsroom. From there she moved to the celebrated Associated Press in New York, where she was assigned stories such as the 1932 Lindbergh baby kidnapping. But it was the interviews she conducted with Roosevelt, and their resulting intimate friendship and romance, that changed the course of Hick's life and inextricably linked the two until Roosevelt's death in 1962. Miller's meticulously researched and engrossing account, based in large part on the voluminous mail correspondence between the two women, sensitively delves into the ways Hick's traumatic childhood affected her career and personal life; it also candidly discusses her queer identity while noting what remains unknown about her relationship with Roosevelt. Back matter includes an author's note, an extensive bibliography, and detailed chapter source notes.
Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

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