Introduction

She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it…

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins.

Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference.

When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love.

But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he’s a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she’s a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.

Frances is destined to rise in a political world dominated by men, facing down the Great Depression as FDR’s most trusted lieutenant—even as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. And when vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she’s willing to do—and what she’s willing to sacrifice—to save a nation.

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Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Frances Perkins considered herself the descendant of revolutionary patriots. How did this image of herself and her place in the American story influence her career choices?

2. The Triangle shirtwaist factory fire profoundly impacted Perkins. Can you think of other examples from the novel where a single event
changed the direction of a character’s life?

3. How did Perkins navigate the discrimination she faced as a woman? What instances in the book struck you the most about this struggle?
What scenes most effectively demonstrate her resilience?

4. Frances Perkins’s family struggled with mental illness in a time when bipolar disease was not well understood. How might things have
turned out differently for her, and for the country, if her husband’s illness could have been effectively treated?

5. Frances Perkins often believed that she had to compromise to accomplish her goals; what did you think of her decisions in this regard, and
were those compromises effective?

6. How did the portrayal of Frances Perkins’s difficulty in balancing her personal and professional life make her more relatable as a character and human being?

7. Frances Perkins struggled with the accusation that she may have been a better American patriot than she was a mother. What are your
thoughts on that?

8. The evolution of the complex relationship between Perkins and President Franklin D. Roosevelt is a central plot point in the novel. What
surprised you about this relationship? How did it shed light on history?

9. Perkins was the driving force behind the Social Security Act. How does the novel’s portrayal of this landmark achievement heighten your understanding and appreciation of it?

10. Perkins’s legacy continues to live on in our society today. With the five-day workweek, fire and food safety regulations, unemployment insurance, and Social Security, can you name the ways your own life or the lives of your family members have been impacted by Frances Perkins?

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