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Our First Impressions reviewers enjoyed reading about Frances Perkins, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, in Stephanie Dray's novel Becoming Madam Secretary; out of 33 reviewers, 32 gave the book four or five stars.
What it's about:
The prologue begins with a scene in FDR's office in 1933 where he is asking Frances Perkins to be his Secretary of Labor. For reasons we learn later, she has already decided she will not accept the appointment. She lays out what she would do if she had the position, assuming that her agenda is so radical that he won't agree to it. To her amazement, he does. How could she say no? Chapter One takes us back in time to the summer of 1909, when Frances is getting a master's degree in economics. Upon graduation, she begins a career of fighting for workers' rights. She observes the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which makes her an ...
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