Overall, what did you think of Becoming Madam Secretary? (no spoilers, please!)
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I truly enjoyed reading Becoming Madam Secretary. As is frequently the case with historical fiction, I learned about a woman of great influence unknown to me. So many women and so many stories!
History rightly credits FDR with the reforms of the New Deal yet largely ignores those like Frances Perkins doing the real work to move from an idea to it’s practical implementation. We learn the broad strokes in schools but we must fill in the details for ourselves. I believe historically fiction provides an opportunity to begin to find those details.
I totally enjoyed the character of Frances. I found myself cheering for her throughout the book. As a working woman and now a retiree, the causes she championed and the challenges she faced as a woman have had a direct impact on my life.
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I enjoyed reading this book and learning about Frances Perkins and more about FDR and the New Deal. She sounds like an amazing person juggling so much on her own with a daughter and sick husband.
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I really enjoyed the book and have recommended it to my bookclub. I had never heard of Frances Perkins and I was amazed at what a brave and impactful woman she was.
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With the chaotic state of politics within our country, I found it most interesting and appropriate to read Stephanie Dray’s new historical novel about a woman who should not be forgotten. That woman is France Perkins, the first woman to serve in the US Cabinet as Secretary of Labor. She was the trailblazer responsible for some of the social safety nets we take for granted today.
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This book was fantastic! I didn’t know anything about Frances Perkins, but I learned so much about her and President Roosevelt. Having read many books about President Roosevelt, I found another view of him fascinating.
Frances Perkins devoted her life to public service. As an older person, I am so grateful to her for getting Social Security into place.
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I found this book very engaging! I had heard of Frances Perkins but had no in-depth knowledge of her. As I read Becoming Madam Secretary, I felt I was getting an interesting and insightful look at history, finally giving credit to a woman who never got enough credit in the history classes I took! Since I am retired and receiving social security, I am so very grateful for the role she played in putting social security in place! I will definitely be sharing this book within my circle of friends who are readers.
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Top-notch historical fiction.
I found this book extremely readable. I learned a great deal about Frances Perki (whom I knew of, but not much about), but also other interesting politicians of that era.
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Perkins life story is inspiring. Perhaps more authors will come forth with books that reveal the depth and determination of women who impacted our country’s history. There are “unseen” ladies in every domain. I suspect that given today’s social media including news, etc., more women are highlighted for their accomplishments than were in the earlier part of the century.
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Year ago I read Kirstin Downey’s excellent book about Ms. Perkins. I found this fictionalized version of her life very enjoyable and approachable. I think this will go a long way toward piquing peoples’ interest and encouraging them to read more about this remarkable woman. That is what the very best historical fiction can do.
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It is a balm to read about a time when America was faced with horrific social conditions, but had leaders that took the exact opposite view of a government’s duty to its citizens than our current administration – the government is there to serve all of the people, not just its millionaires and billionaires, and to create a safety net for citizens who find themselves struggling, often the vicitims of those very uber-wealthy people. I hadn’t realized that Frances Perkins was truly the architect and the force behind creating that social safety net that is now being destroyed. And while I knew that Eleanor Roosevelt was a force in helping to shape Franklin’s social conscience, I hadn’t known how much of an influence Frances was. I am grateful to Stephanie Dray for bringing this remarkable woman into a well-deserved spotlight! My only question is about the use of Frances’s public voice to be the voice of the novel – it sometimes felt confining, constricting, and I wished there was a way to get inside her head more. But I understand using her public voice enables the author to stick more closely to the facts. I wonder what others think
I, too, wanted to know more about the private Frances; however, I do understand the author’s point of view and portrayal of the public persona.
Historical fiction has always been my favorite genre, and this novel did not disappoint. In a previous question I noted that I liked the first person voice used here because it made Ms Perkins more approachable and helped picture the social and cultural environment in which she grew up and lived rather than strictly the “politics” of the era.
This was so darn good. It’s not only incredibly interesting historically. But it’s also so well written. It just grabs you from page 1.
I thought it did the job of Historical Fiction. It provided a very readable story that included major hallmarks of the historical period, the work she accomplished, and her personal life. Because of its voice, many more people will read and learn than would if the story was presented as a non-fiction, just-the-facts, version.
I loved this inspiring book that shows that people can make significant accomplishments while living challenging lives, including Frances Perkins and FDR. During this time in history, some people were working to make improvements in voting rights for women, abolishing child labor, reducing poverty, improving work place safety, and decreasing infant mortality rates, while other tried to maintain the status quo. The tough job of writing, passing, and implementing legislation is illuminated through the work of Frances Perkins and others. Anyone who believes the tough work is worth it should read this book.
I liked the book. But felt the strongest parts dealt with the historical events related to Perkins. Once the speculation about her private life began, the stories were emotionally flat. Some assumptions seemed far fetched and not the strongest part of the author’s writing style. Part I was most interesting as the timeline moved fast. Part 2 is much slower and dragged. But overall fast read (could have been slightly shortened), and interesting story.
Overall, I thought it was a very good book and a lot can be learned and understood from reading it. If I had one objection to the book, it is that I felt it was told in the modern equivalent of a sound byte.
My book club read this book and it was a big win. What was really exciting to see was those members in their 30’s that learned about a woman they never knew about. In fact, they were disturbed that they had never knew the importance of a woman in setting better working conditions and SS. It made it all very real for them.
I would encourage any book club to read this book. It was also fun to see some of the photos of her, available on the internet.