When they married, Eleanor Roosevelt and her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt loved each other deeply. Eleanor was pregnant with their first child when they returned from their honeymoon.

Their childhood experiences were very different. Franklin was babied and spoiled by his mother. On the other hand, Eleanor's mother was quite adverse to Eleanor and was very cruel to her. She was quoted as telling Eleanor that she did not understand where this ugly child came from! Her name for her stoic insecure daughter was "granny!"

Eleanor's mother was a society woman, and exceedingly beautiful. Her father loved little Eleanor, but his addiction to alcohol ruined the family. A divorce resulted, and while Eleanor could visit her father, when he left her alone for many cold hours on the steps to his prestigious club, the family forbid any further interactions.

All her life, Eleanor held her father in esteem. Her childhood led to many insecurities that she could not overcome. Thus, when she discovered love letters from Lucy to her husband, her life seemed to fall apart. By all accounts, she never forgave Franklin, and their marriage would remain a match of intellect, but any sexual interactions were not part of the relationship after she bore FDR five children, and certainly not after his relationship with Lucy.

Franklin's mother ruled the home and their relationship. Bossy, nasty, controlling, the very rich mother held the purse strings. She bought and decorated their properties, and when I visited the Hyde Park, NY mansion a few years ago, the guide made a point of showing that his mother's room was right next to her "grown baby."

The children, in particular their son James, wrote of the tenuous relationship of his parents. He understood his mother's hurt and inability to forgive. Time and time again, he saw his father reach out his arms to hug Eleanor, whereupon she coldly walked away.

James notes that his mother was very adamant about wanting a divorce. His grandmother told both that they would remain married, or else all funds would be stopped. The firm rule was that Franklin could never again see Lucy. He agreed to these terms, but as this book reports, he never lived up to that commitment.

Lucy was Eleanor's social secretary, and they worked together daily. Soon after finding the letters, Lucy was not a part of her everyday life.

Grieving the loss of her love relationship with Franklin, Lucy married and had by all accounts a very successful marriage. She helped to raise her widowed husband's children, and they had a daughter, Barbara. Lucy was fond of her husband and the children.

Anna, Eleanor and Franklin's first child, was responsible for arranging the meetings of her father and Lucy. Images of FDR during post-WWII photos, show a very thin, deep socketed many. After the Yalta conference with Churchill and Stalin, he came home to die. Lucy was with him when he took his last breath. ( )