Thanks to Ron Chernow’s award-winning biography and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning musical, interest in the historical figure of Alexander Hamilton has experienced a rebirth in recent years. Many have also fallen in love with his wife Eliza who endured much for the birth of America – a revolutionary war, the country’s first sex scandal, deadly duels impacting her family, whispers and improprieties, a hostile post-revolution political environment, and fifty years of being a widow. However, the historical record is strikingly silent with first-hand data from her directly. Thus, we are left to imagine what her life had been life.
Along with Tilar Mizzeo’s recent work, this work seeks to fill that gap. Well-researched and well-conceived, this book imagines what the emotional life of one of America’s first mothers would have been like. Historically, Eliza shows up frequently, but again, first-hand knowledge of her voice seems sparse. Dray and Kamoie imagine her inner life among all of a newly-born Republic’s twists and turns.
Together, they paint a picture of a lady of deep character, deep religious faith, yet susceptible to political rivalries and emotional hurts. To them, Eliza clearly learned much from her brilliant husband. She never forgave Aaron Burr for her husband’s murder nor others who wounded her husband’s reputation. So much in her life that was unresolved. And yet, in Dray and Kamoie’s imaginations, Eliza maintained her inner integrity, probably in excess of her husband.
This is a feminist work, a work of a woman who overcomes all the nastiness that life has to offer. It proudly shows the contribution of women to life. It serves as a reminder that modern democracy was birthed not only by first fathers but also by first mothers. These first mothers include Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, and a host of others portrayed in this novel.
So is it any good? A thousand times, yes. The authors show a mastery of the historical record, the human condition, American politics, and gender. They delve into matters to a depth that has rarely ever been matched in portrayals of the Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary periods. Readers interested in American history, politics, and fiction will find much to delight in.
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
By Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
Copyright (c) 2018
William Morrow
ISBN13 9780062466167
Page Count: 641
Genre: Historical Fiction
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