White House Wild Child

Alice Roosevelt at the age of seventeen became the most photographed woman in the world. She could generate more newspaper print than even her father when he was president, and she meant to! She wanted to get back at her father for not loving her the way she needed.

The fascinating historical biography of America's most memorable first daughter, Alice Roosevelt, whose free spirit and status made her the Princess Diana and Jackie O of the early 20th century.

Perfect for readers of female-centric biographies like The Daughters of Yalta and for fans of the glitzy drama of The Gilded Age and The Crown.

"I can do one of two things, I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."—Theodore Roosevelt

During Theodore Roosevelt's presidency—from 1901 to 1909, when Mark Twain called him the most popular man in America—his daughter Alice Roosevelt mesmerized the world with her antics and beauty.

Alice was known for carrying a gun, a copy of the Constitution, and a green snake in her purse. When her father told her she couldn't smoke under his roof, she climbed to the top of the White House and smoked on the roof. She became the most famous woman in America--and even the world—predating Princess Diana and Jackie Kennedy as an object of public obsession.

As her celebrity grew, she continued to buck tradition, push against social norms, and pull political sway behind the curtain of privilege and access. She was known for her acerbic wit and outspoken tendencies which hypnotized both the social and political world.

Brilliantly researched and powerfully told, Shelley Fraser Mickle places the reader in the time and place of Alice and asks what would it have been like to be a strong-willed powerful woman of that day. Drawn from primary and secondary sources, Alice's life comes into focus in this historical celebration of an extraordinary woman ahead of her time.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with the author, Shelley Fraser Mickle.

Book club questions for White House Wild Child by Shelley Fraser Mickle

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

Did Alice face any problems or issues growing up in her day that a young woman growing up in America today does not face? How are young women better off today in terms of their personal life choices?

Fathers and Daughters—how important is a father to a daughter in terms of her self-worth? We talk a lot about fathers and sons, but isn’t it time we open a national discussion on the value of a father on a daughter? As that old country western song warns us, looking for love in all the wrong place —can a close relationship with a father prevent a young woman making poor relationship choices?

Bamie! Can you believe she has evaporated from history? Was she too generous in disappearing from history as T.R.’s closest advisor? It was certainly an act of love. What do you think of her education under Marie Souvestre? An added fun fact: Marie Souvestre moved her famous school for girls to outside London, renamed Allenswood. When Eleanor Roosevelt was orphaned at the age of 9, Bamie wanted to take her to raise, but Eleanor’s grandmother Hall wanted her too, and when Eleanor’s alcoholic uncles who lived with Grandmother Hall threatened her safety, Grandmother Hall sent her to Allenswood. Marie Souvestre said that Eleanor had the warmest heart of any girl she ever knew—which Eleanor demonstrated during FDR’s four terms as president.

What about T.R.? Did you fall in love with him as much as the author did in this book? If he had been able to overcome his pain of grief to become a more affectionate father to Alice how could he have expressed it? What part in complicating his relationship with Alice did Edith play?

Did Alice give her husband Nick Longworth enough of a chance to fix their marriage?

Alice’s granddaughter is still living but does not engage in discussing her grandmother. It has been learned that she does not want her grandmother to be remembered only for her antics. Her granddaughter loved Alice and wants that love to be honored. Has this portrait in this book honored the granddaughter’s wish? Does the author make you understand Alice? Do you have compassion for her?

White House Wild Child Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the White House Wild Child discussion questions

Praise

"With wit and fresh insight, Shelley Fraser Mickle brings vividly to life one of the most colorful figures of the 20th Century--the most glamorous, rebellious and contentious woman in the United States, and for a time the most famous." —Jonathan Alter, former editor for Newsweek, author of His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life