If a Poem Could Live and Breathe

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What to expect

A fact-based romantic speculative novel about Teddy Roosevelt’s first love, by Mary Calvi, author of Dear George, Dear Mary

Studded with the real love letters between a young Theodore Roosevelt and Boston beauty Alice Lee―many of them never before published―If a Poem Could Live and Breathe makes vivid what many historians believe to be the pivotal years that made the future president into the man of action that defined his political life, and cemented his legacy.

Cambridge, 1878. The era of the Gilded Age. Alice Lee sets out to break from the norms of her mother’s generation. Women are fighting for educational opportunities and exploring a new sense of intellectual and personal freedom. Native New Yorker, Harvard student Teddy Roosevelt, is on his own journey of discovery, and when they meet, unrelenting currents of love change the trajectory of his life forever.

If a Poem Could Live and Breathe is an indelible portrait of the authenticity of first love, the heartache of loss, and how overcoming the worst of life’s obstacles can push one to greatness never imagined.

Critics Review

“An entertaining novel to devour with tissues nearby.”

Historical Novel Society

“The authenticity of Theodore’s feelings for Alice is made palpable in the magnetic narrative, and the inclusion of his love letters to Alice, some published for the very first time, is a nice touch.”

Publishers Weekly

“Lauren Ezzo provides an intelligent and expressive narration of this fine historical romance…Ezzo excels at conveying Lee’s privileged ‘Boston Brahmin’ world, as well as that of Harvard University…Most intriguing are Roosevelt and Lee’s impassioned conversations on women’s equality and education.”

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