Passionate mothers, powerful sons: the lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt

Preface: The pageantry of power 1867

A gilded start. Jerome flings and flash 1854-1867 ; Delano decorum and discipline 1854-1870 ; High-spirited Jennie 1867-1873 ; Self-assured Sara 1870-1880

Courtship and marriage. Jennie's "very dangerous affair" 1873-1874 ; Toxic Churchill dynamics 1874-1880 ; Roosevelt harmony 1880-1890

Maternal bonds. Jennie's dream crumbles 1880-1886 ; Churchills: love and death 1887-1895 ; Sara's "dear, dear boy" 1890-1903

Making her own choices. Jennie: "no wire unpulled" 1895-1899 ; Jennie goes to war 1899-1901 ; Sara acquires a "daughter" 1901-1904 ; The ups and downs of Churchill marriages 1901-1912 ; Sara stays close 1904-1913

The final years. Jennie: "on the wrong side of the ladder" 1912-1918 ; Sara's old-fashioned values 1913-1919 ; Jennie's "best foot forward" 1918-1921 ; Sara: "our dear invalid" 1921-1931 ; Sara: America's matriarch 1931-1941

Afterword: After lives.