First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies Hardcover – April 12, 2016

This is a pleasant valentine for ten first ladies. It is not profound but neither is it particularly critical. A few of the anecdotes appeared in Brower's The Residence. Many of the stories she shares are already widely known: the coolness between Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan, the Clintons' profane arguments, the fact that Michelle Obama was not particularly happy about moving to Washington and into the White House, and so on.
At first Brower appears to want to make readers think that the First Ladies have some special relationship because of the role they shared, however, that theme doesn't really work. In fact, the only two first ladies who seemed to have developed a true friendship were Lady Bird Johnson and Betty Ford. Rosalind Carter remained bitter for a while after her husband's defeat and even was somewhat resentful because Hillary Clinton did not ask her anything about health care although that had been Rosalind's major effort has first lady. Nancy Reagan doesn't seem to have cared much for any of them with the possible exception of Jackie Kennedy Onassis (snob appeal, maybe?) There is one photograph of several of the women at an event which tells all. The five or six others appear to be talking to each other but Mrs. Reagan is at the end of the table and is turned completely away. The expression on her face says, more or less, "when will this purgatory end"?
All in all, the book is interesting as a sidelight into the lives of these women who have tried to fufill the role as best they could. Some more successfully than others. Some tidbits are fascinating. Laura Bush has an image of the perfect southern lady who never loses her cool but evidently there were times when she could make her displeasure known, especially toward a staff member who kept losing the keys to her daughter's car. Pat Nixon was much liked and admired by her staff as was Barbara Bush.
The only real criticism I have of the book is its organization. Brower skips around and repeats herself at times. Perhaps organizing it chronologically completely would have made for a more cohesive story.

I really enjoyed her first book, "The Residence". I felt like this book was just the rest of her notes from her previous research with a few extra interviews thrown in. It is chaotically organized and not well written. I really believe she had so much left over research from her first book, that she decided to throw it all into another.
There is a lot of fascinating information and stories, so I'm not suggesting not reading it. I just think she should have taken some more time and created a more cohesive book.

I was very excited about this book because I'm extremely interested in this era of American history, but I'm confused about the reviews. Several readers mention they feel that this is a "well written" and "thoroughly researched" work. I'll give Brower the points on research (I'm sure this was quite a task to undertake), but I'm lost at the notion that people feel this book is well-written.

In my opinion, this entire narrative reads like pages and pages of notes that someone has jotted down and published, prior to the editing process or prior to even formatting the story into a cohesive outline. Brower begins the introduction with a story of Hillary Clinton and Jackie Kennedy and later repeats the exact phrasing of this same story in a subsequent chapter. It's odd. The chapters in general are long-winded and only vaguely connected to their titles ("motherhood" for instance is the heading for one chapter but naturally, this topic is covered throughout the book, so this subdivision means little in the context of the entire thread) and because it's written out of order, the author is forced to constantly use last names and descriptions ("Amy's nanny," "Jack's doctor") repeatedly, even when writing about someone who's already been discussed.

Had my opinion been solicited (which I know is comical, given that the author is a NY Times #1 Best Seller), I would have definitely suggested putting it in chronological order. I know that many research accounts use examples of common themes from all of their subjects to illustrate the chosen category, but this writing bounces so all over the place that the author would've done better to start with Jackie and tell the story from her forward, interweaving the ladies' relationships with one another into the tale as the years progress. As it's written, we start with Jackie yachting with Hillary and circle back so many times to Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Cater, and Lady Bird Johnson, that I'm constantly having to pause and remember, ok: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama. It's hard to keep it all straight as a younger person (even one who knows all the presidents in order from Washington) who didn't live through most of these years. The book, as a whole, feels extremely chaotic.

That being said, there is obviously interesting information about the women within these pages. You just have to mine through quite a bit of rough-edged stone to get to these precious jewels. I definitely believe the author's account as I think she is a credible source who clearly did her homework, and it does make the women come alive in a sense that one might not ordinarily understand. I do wonder though what the ladies think - or would think - of some of this information coming to light. Betty Ford comes off the best in my opinion while Nancy Reagan seems somewhat cold and borderline pathetic, and the others, (save Hillary Clinton who is really her own category, apart from "first lady," and the Bush ladies, who have personal philosophies barring them from complaining or self-pity) read like tragic figures, generally ruined by the role.

I'm not saying not to read this book... give it a shot, just understand that you have to focus and sift through some repetitive information to receive the benefits of the best parts. I personally wish it had been condensed and gone through another pass at editing, but I do commend Brower on bringing this story to our collective attention.

If you enjoy following contemporary politics, or if you are a fan of presidential biographies, you will find this collection of entertaining and sometimes enlightening vignettes about modern first ladies well worth your time. It is a reasonable starting point for a serious discussion about the role of women in our culture, and how individual women navigate a way through the pitfalls of expectations that are never clearly articulated.