Eleanor Roosevelt’s life–from her birth in 1884 to her death in 1962–is read in the steady voice of Tavia Gilbert. Being the niece of Theodore Roosevelt and fifth cousin of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor was in the unique position to experience life from inside the New York governor’s house and the White House over five decades, first under her uncle’s administrations and then her husband’s. Gilbert performs this autobiography crisply and with little emotion. As Roosevelt, Gilbert tells of life as a teacher; homemaker; mother to six children, five of whom survived; first lady; and humanitarian during and after FDR’s death. Gilbert’s performance lacks Roosevelt’s cultured tones. Surprisingly, there are no clips of Roosevelt’s own voice. Nevertheless, this audiobook performance will engage listeners from the first minutes to the last. AudioFile Magazine