It's Up to the Women

"Eight decades after the Great Depression, American women are facing yet another test of courage and ingenuity. Eleanor Roosevelt's advice to women living through the world's greatest economic crisis remains relevant, comforting, and, for all of its practicality, profoundly inspiring."

"In l933, Eleanor Roosvelt launched her first book to galvanize an urgent movement for democracy, peace and freedom. As fascism threatened the world, she believed women's activism would save the future... This book, bold and vividly written, is needed NOW!"

"It's Up to the Women challenges us anew to foster community, adhere to the highest standards of ethics, raise fearless children with a concern for the world, and embrace and act on the notion that it is 'the attitude of women towards changes in society [that] is going to determine to a great extent our future in this country.' Inspiration for the work ahead is found here, in wise advice for women in the 1930s."

"This must-read primer by America's greatest first lady is so much more than quaint, decades-old history. [It's Up to the Women] powerfully reminds us of how much women have achieved since Eleanor's time-and how much more must be done to secure the level playing field she advocated. Ably reintroduced by the brilliant Jill Lepore, this book is as timely now as when it first appeared in the depths of the Depression.. . . What Eleanor advised women then remains truer than ever today: our mission will only be fulfilled when 'we can say we never saw a wrong without trying to right it.'"

"Whatever the topic, Roosevelt's advice is insistently practical... wholesome and heartening."

"Inspirational at times, It's Up to the Women is also deeply practical...The foundational message rings as loudly as it did nearly a century ago: that women 'have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world.'"

"Roosevelt writes passionately about work-life balance-among dozens of other push/pull matters of the heart and mind. Her book is a reminder of how long we've been grappling with equality, justice and social responsibility inside and outside our homes....Read through the lens of 2017 perspective, her words offer a set of guiding principles that seem almost prescient."

"Roosevelt was writing to the women caught in the grip of the Great Depression. But her words echo across time. It is up to the women..."

"An eclectic assortment of wisdom...Even by modern standards, It's Up to the Women still yields plenty of good, common sense advice for women and men alike, on everything from health to parenting to doing one's civic duty."