American daughters : a novel
(Book)

In New Haven in 1901, 18-year-old Portia Washington sneaks out to see her father--the great Booker T. Washington--greet President Teddy Roosevelt but then falls ill. Coming to her aid is Teddy's daughter, Alice, who brings Portia to her hotel room to recover and, despite some awkward moments, the two bond over their motherlessness. Thus begins a lifelong friendship. Portia eventually spends time in Germany studying music, and returns to Tuskegee to marry the handsome architect, Sid Pittman. But married life isn't easy, as her husband turns controlling and they have three children in rapid succession. Wild child Alice is also bamboozled by marriage; her husband, Congressman Nicholas Longworth, is unfaithful, and worse, he doesn't support Teddy's return to the White House. As both women support their fathers' ambitions and find their own purposes, they correspond and connect over years and miles.