Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth [Paperback]

Carol Felsenthal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2003

Known as the "other Washington monument, " Alice Roosevelt Longworth knew personally every president from Benjamin Harrison to Jimmy Carter, and for over 70 years reigned as Washington's grandest grande dame. Here is both the delightful and the dark sides of her life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (December 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312302223
• ISBN-13: 978-0312302221
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nasty tone to the book....but that is because of the author, May 2, 2007

By 

Kate Chopin Rocks My World (St. Louis, MO, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Paperback)

I read this book about 10 years ago, skimmed it actually at the time, and enjoyed it for its gossipy detail.

I re-read it in the past few days and realize how.....how shall I put this....mean-spirited it is. I believe that this is because of the style of Carol Felsenthal first and foremost.

Now, Alice Roosevelt Longworth was no saint. She was a narcissistic trouble-maker, a beautiful and spirited and intelligent woman who could have done so much more with her life. Instead she delighted in bitterness , and witty and smart thought she was, her character was riddled with anger.

Her childhood was tragic. Her mother died 2 days after her birth. Her father, Theodore Roosevelt, had adored her mother almost to the point of goddess worship. Received opinion is that Alice Lee Roosevelt, mother of the subject of this book, was warm, open and loving. And beautiful (this without the cosmetics that enhance beauty today.) It is interesting to imagine what would have happened if Alice Lee had lived on to parent her daughter in a different way.

So, Alice Lee dies suddenly and unexpectedly two days after baby Alice's bith. What does Theodore Roosevelt do with this little girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to her late mother? Does he cherish her, nurture her, think of her as a connection to her late mother's spirit?

No. He basically shuts her out of his life. He doesn't want to see her and pays scant attention to her. He ships her off to be raised by his sister Bamie, a wonderful woman who loved little Alice dearly and would also have made a good parent, Then he marries Edith Carew, who was a childhood friend of his and whom he had thrown over to marry the idolized Alice Lee. Edith Carew insisted on taking care of Alice, but her parenting was based partly, I think, on punishing this daughter of her rival -- how easy it was for her to pretend to care and then muck up this step-daughter's self-esteem entirely. It's really an ugly story, and it's almost painful to read about Edith Carew Roosevelt's subtle and uncharitable coldness toward the little girl whom she could pretend to care about -- when she was actually effecting a very subtle and uncharitable revenge.

No wonder Alice Roosevelt was messed up.

My problem with Carol Felsenthal's book is that she does not examine fully the reasons for Alice Longworth's troubled, combative personality. She takes a light and almost National-Enquirer type tone and, in the end, makes everyone seem like a cartoon stereotype. Does anyone come out of this book as truly likeable and a good person? Even Eleanor Roosevelt is turned into a buffoon.

I wish someone like Joseph Lash or Edmund Morris would write, or would have written, a bio about Alice. (I think both gentleman have passed away, so I probably should say "I wish someone with their depth and even-handedness had written a bio about Alice.")

I would suggest learning more about the sad ramifications of this woman's life by reading about other members of the Roosevelt family -- Alice is mentioned often.

Does anyone else know of a better-written bio of Alice Roosevelt Longworth? I'm really interested in reading one.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Circe of Massachusetts Avenue, October 8, 2006

By 

Lew Troop "Lew" (Kansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Paperback)

In her many years in Washington, Alice Roosevelt Longworth saw and considered all. The biting wit she so happily shared (she had a pillow made that said,"If you have nothing nice to say, sit next to me)
with friends and, more pointedly, enemies is on view.

It was not a happy life, death seemed too often and too soon to be a companion. Starting with her own Mother at child birth and continuing to include her Father, husband and Daughter. Privately she grieved but publicly she knew she had a responsibility to keep fresh the memory of the deceased.

Never one to not do what wasn't acceptable, she cheerfully tells of being drunk in Japan, plotting to marry Nicholas Longworth, who would become Speaker of the House and writing a colume to rival her distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. (Mrs. Longworth's was more amusing).

As hardcore biography this isn't a gem but as the view of a fascinating life it reveals what we need to know of a famous American. Certainly, her influence and power-which were real-did not extend beyond the beltway of Washington D.C. Too often viewed as a "society lady" by the country at large, (hence the title "Princess Alice")known outside Washington principally for a popular song, "Alice Blue Gown" she was the keeper of that now dead feature of that stimulating, intellectual life, the salon.

What is noted is her great humanity that was never part of her public persona. Reaching out to a pre-married Eleanor (and subsequently being rebuffed and vilified by this same person) or allowing her home to be used as a hostel during a war, was all part of what was a very private person. She had discovered, and the reader can learn a lesson here, that to be very private, you need to be a bit public. Liked or Loathed, all of Washington came to her-if in some cases a bit reluctantly.

Only in one instance did her instincts for the country she truly loved let her down;her involvement, along with Charles Lindbergh, in the abortive movement, America First. It was an episode she regretted, but, as was typical of the Lady, never quite apologized for.

A subject such as Alice Roosevelt Longworth needs a book about them for posterity. She belongs to a group of people that while time will never entirely forget, the personality and importance of her and her times will be diminshed.

It's an easily read book, an enjoyable glance at a character, in a time when character meant something more than a strange person, who in subtle ways had a pleasantly nasty way of influencing people. Enjoy her that way and this book is a good place to make her acquaintance.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a good biography, February 20, 2007

By 

Andromeda (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Paperback)

A good biography I couldn't help but feel sorry for Alice. Her mother died at birth and there were many examples where her father didn't seem to care about her. Leaving her with her aunt to go out west. The second review gives more examples. A lot of her behavoir and wild antics seemed to steam from a lonely girl looking for attention from her family. No wonder Alice loved all the attention she got at as the president's daughter.