Invincible Summer: An Intimate Portrait of the Roosevelts, based on the recollections of Marion Dickerman

by Kenneth Sydney Davis

Genres: Biography

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I returned to this volume as the Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Atlantic Crossing ended. Seeking the facts amid artistic license, this was one volume I turned to. The memoirs of Roosevelt intimate Marion Dickerman as told to Kenneth Davis reveal Marion's resentment toward Princess Martha of Norway; indeed while some found much to admire in Martha as every inch a princess, others including Marion resented royal prerogative. This volume does include many photos of visitors to the Hyde Park retreat of Val Kill, built by Eleanor Roosevelt and her political allies, life partners Marion and Nancy Cook. The many pictures show the good times 'round the Val Kill pool; Eleanor's bitter break with Nancy and Marion is touched upon in the text, but Blanche Cooke's second volume of her Eleanor trilogy is more detailed. Memories often exclude bitterness, and the text and pictures reveal the human impulse to emphasize the good over the bad times. A valuable volume among the always growing Roosevelt shelf.

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is on the friendship of Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook with Eleanor Roosevelt during the 1920s and 1930s.

For a time, they lived together at Val Kill near the large Roosevelt home at Hyde Park near the Hudson River (almost one hundred miles north of New York City).

We are provided with an up-close picture of the relationship of Marion and Nancy with the large Roosevelt family (Franklin, Eleanor, their five children, and Franklin’s mother) – and their dynamics. They were a rambunctious lot. Marion and Nancy travelled together in the U.S., Canada and Europe with Eleanor and some of the Roosevelt children.

Also included are Franklin’s assistant, Louis Howe, and to a lesser extent Caroline O’Day (active in the Democratic Party) and Alfred E. Smith (Governor of New York State who ran for President in 1928).

After Franklin was elected President in 1932, Eleanor started to freeze-out Marion and Nancy from her friendship circle. She had a habit of doing this. What is not mentioned is the attachments Eleanor formed with others like Lorena Hickok.

I would recommend this book to Roosevelt aficionados. I have been to the Roosevelt home a number of times and am enamoured with this area on the Hudson River and the grand history of the Roosevelt's.

[Tammy Mannarino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable resource in studying Eleanor Roosevelt. Her friendship with Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook was key to her growth and development into one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. While this book is limited in it's coverage, and perhaps less than candid, it points to the important assets held in the Dickerman Collection. I would love to delve into the photographs and letters in person!

[Pam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so sad to find that Kenneth Davis and publisher Atheneum absconded with Marion Dickerman's reflections of her life and times with Eleanor Roosevelt. Both the author and Ms Dickerman talk in their forewards about the stories that Ms Dickerman was eager to tell and how the publisher's decided that a more practiced author should write them. Too bad! Oh and as a result, nothing new here.

[Susan Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "ER story," from the point of view of Eleanor's friend, Marion Dickerman. ER, Dickerman, and Dickerman's life partner, Nancy (Nan) Cook, became close friends in 1922, when ER was beginning to be active in New York Democratic politics. The book documents their friendship through the building of Val-Kill Cottage, the establishment of the furniture factory, and ER's teaching at Todhunter (where Dickerman was the principal and all three had a financial interest). Cook and ER became estranged in 1937, when the furniture factory was closed, and she and Dickerman eventually left Val-Kill. An excellent reference re: the friendship and partnership as Dickerman saw it, although (perhaps not surprisingly) the description of the breakup is less than candid. Photographs.