Let Us March On by Shara Moon

LET US MARCH ON by Shara Moon is a debut work of historical fiction centered on the FDR White House. The main narrator is Lizzie McDuffie, a maid who was married to FDR’s valet, Irvin “Mac” McDuffie.  Their decades long association with the Roosevelts was clearly quite close, although it was a bit hard using modern eyes and biases to accept the idea of consulting one’s maid on federal policy or asking that person to take an active role like the one Lizzie held in presidential campaigns. Moon wrote that Lizzie referred to herself as “Secretary-On-Colored-People’s-Affairs” and Moon repeatedly stressed Lizzie’s private conversations with the President regarding overtures to organizations like the NAACP and its leaders. This was a fascinating look at “influence” as the civil rights movement was coalescing, but it was disappointing that the preview did not contain a list of sources or any commentary from the author. Readers interested in this time period may also want to look for The First Ladies by Benedict and Murray.