Hissing Cousins

The Untold Story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth

By: Marc Peyser, Timothy Dwyer

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

A lively and provocative double biography of first cousins Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth, two extraordinary women whose tangled lives provide a sweeping look at the twentieth century.

When Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901, his beautiful and flamboyant daughter was transformed into "Princess Alice," arguably the century's first global celebrity. Thirty-two years later, her first cousin Eleanor moved into the White House as First Lady. Born eight months and twenty blocks apart from each other in New York City, Eleanor and Alice spent a large part of their childhoods together and were far more alike than most historians acknowledge.

But their politics and temperaments couldn't have been more distinct. Do-gooder Eleanor was committed to social justice but hated the limelight; acid-tongued Alice, who became the wife of philandering Republican congressman Nicholas Longworth, was an opponent of big government who gained notoriety for her cutting remarks (she famously quipped that dour President Coolidge “looked like he was weaned on a pickle”). While Eleanor revolutionized the role of First Lady with her outspoken passion for human rights, Alice made the most of her insider connections to influence politics, including doing as much to defeat the League of Nations as anyone in elective office.

The cousins themselves liked to play up their oil-and-water relationship. “When I think of Frank and Eleanor in the White House I could grind my teeth to powder and blow them out my nose,” Alice once said. In the 1930s they even wrote opposing syndicated newspaper columns and embarked on competing nationwide speaking tours. Blood may be thicker than water, but when the family business is politics, winning trumps everything.

Vivid, intimate, and stylishly written, Hissing Cousins finally sets this relationship center stage, revealing the contentious bond between two political trailblazers who short-circuited the rules of gender and power, each in her own way.

Fascinating

I couldn’t put this book down. I’d read on my own, Re-listen to it again with the narrator. The history is amazing. These ladies are truly fascinating.

Interesting

I enjoy biographies and this was another well written one. The authors did a good job of organizing the abundant information about two very interesting women. Both Eleanor and Alice had their good traits and bad. I will say I still admire Eleanor much more than Alice. Despite Alice's intelligence and opportunities she still seemed to live her life as a "spoiled brat".
Suzanne Toren does a mediocre job as narrator. I don't really care for her interpretations (I have listened to several books read by her) but not enough to NOT listen to this book. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if it had been read by a different person.

So Much I Didn’t Know

I was amazed at how much I learned listening to this book. It was fascinating hearing all of the behind the scenes machinations that took place. I particularly enjoyed the excerpts from letters so that you heard events in each woman’s “voice”.

Hissing indeed!

There were a few tender moments between Alice and Eleanor...few and far between! This was a wonderful way to brush up on American history.

Engrossing; couldn't put it down

Although I have read other biographies of the Roosevelts, I had not heard many of these stories.