Kindred Souls: The Devoted Friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. David Gurewitsch

Rating:
Summary: Adding to the ER mystic
Review: I certainly do not claim to be an expert on the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. However, I have read my fair share of books on her life and that of FDR. As a result, I thought I was aware of ER's circle of friends and the people who shared a close relationship with her. When I discovered KINDRED SOULDS - THE FRIENDSHIP OF ELEANOR ROOSEVELT AND DAVID GUREWITSCH on audiocassete at my local library it came as a welcome surprise. David Gurewitsch was a name that was new to me.

Edna P. Gurewitsch's 2002 book is a memorable history of the relationship between the author's husband, Dr. David Gurewitsch and ER. Based mainly on letters between ER and Dr. Gurewitsch and journals along with Edna's memories, the book presents a charming portrait of Mrs. Roosevelt as a pragmatic, driven, thoughtful, quirky, emotional and sometimes difficult friend. The relationship that developed first beween ER and David, who was ER's physician, and later with the addition of Edna when they married, makes for an interesting insight into the dynamics of this unique set of human relationship. Did ER really love David, a man many years her junior, and resent the intrusion of Edna? Did she finally come to accept this "other woman" in a strange threesome in order to maintain her relationship with David? These are questions that no one can answer and one that the prospective reader can ponder for themselves.

The Roosevelt children do not fair wll throughout the book, which covers the last years of Mrs. Roosevelt's life. They come across as seemingly lacking concern for their mother, going to her when they were in financial straights, especially Elliot and living lives where they believed that the society owes them a great deal because of their place in history as Roosevelts. It becomes almost trite to talk about the result of a dysfunctional family, but it's the only thing that seems to fit after listening to Edna describe ER's relationship with her children. Surprisingly, the references to FDR are few and far between. Edna speaks from the prospective of those who argue that ER took on a new persona as her own person after her husband's death and moved on with her life.

As I said, I don't claim to be an expert on ER, however, I know that she was extremely close to Joseph Lash. Then there is the rumored relationship with her one time driver, state trooper,Earl Miller, both of whom were younger than ER. There was ER's life long friendship (allegedly lesbian) with Lorena Hitchock and her interesting relationship with other women. And these are just the ones that I remember.

As a prolific letter writer ER left a great legacy in her writing. The thousands of letters addressed to "my dearest friend" with comments of "how much I love and miss you" were left behind for historians now to consider. Are we now judging her late Victorian style by 21st century standards? Were these loving comments a result of ER's loneliness and her desire to be loved in return? Only a psychologist can figure that one out.

ER clearly had a close relationsip with Edna and David. Such is evidenced by the fact that she chose to live the last years of her life with them. She traveled with them, spent weekends and evenings with them, and basically made them her family, based on Edna's account. Although Edna talks about ER's many circle of friends, how they also interacted in her life or spent time with her, I came away feeling that there was a part of ER's life that was left out in this particular picture. According to Edna, ER's life was totally encompassed in that of her and her husband to the exclusion of others.

For those who know a good deal about Eleanor Roosevelt, this is an interesting read. As I stated, I listened to it on audiocassette. The reader did a good job of varying her voice but I feel that there were several mispronunciations of proper names. The work included interesting political insights of mid 20th century politicians, especially Adlai Stevenson and JFK. But fitting the Gurewitsch's into the greater picture of ER's life is, I believe, still open for debate. In hindsight history is always reveaaed in the light most favorable to the writer, especially one who claims to have the close personal friends of a famous person. However, I would love to hear other views of the relationship between David Gurewitsch, Edna Gurewitsch and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. I'm suspect that there is another side.