BOOK - "AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER" (NO SPOILERS!!)

WOW!! What a wonderful book!! I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it - decidedly now one of my all-time favorite books. Thank you to WELLINGTON SQUARE BOOKSHOP for choosing this for our FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB!

In "AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER" by STEPHANIE DRAY and LAURA KAMOIE, each chapter begins with a short excerpt from one of THOMAS JEFFERSON'S letters. The story-line was very well constructed, followed a chronological timeline (thank you!!) and the writing was divine - very easy to read and not too many characters to keep track of. HISTORICAL FICTION seems to "speak to me" because I enjoy learning about things from our past. Every day I looked forward to getting back to the story and simply DIDN'T WANT IT TO END!!

The book is NOT about THOMAS JEFFERSON, but instead it's about his daughter, MARTHA (called "PATSY" as young girl), which made it even more interesting to me. From her perspective, I feel as if I got to know THOMAS JEFFERSON on a personal level not just as a former PRESIDENT. MARTHA shares what he was like as a husband, lover, father and grandfather, as well as his life as a public figure. You truly get a feel for what it might have been like to be "AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER". The story WAS about HER.

There was a whirlwind of activity while PATSY (later called MARTHA) lived as a young teen, with her father, in PARIS. Falling in love for the first time at age 16 with WILLIAM SHORT - I found myself wanting to know more about him (and just might write to the author to request it!). 

Naturally I was also curious to read about JEFFERSON'S relationship with SALLY HEMINGS (his slave and "romantic interest"), because it's been such a scandalous topic throughout history. It's difficult to believe that MARTHA had 11 children (or was it more?) and that she and SALLY each had to endure the loss of so many babies. Life was hard in the early 1800's.

I was intrigued by how similarly the challenges of THOMAS JEFFERSON'S PRESIDENCY and his GOVERNMENT were to that of current day (some as recent as the past year). I was shaking my head, thinking that "things never really change - history repeats itself"........  

While reading, I tagged a number of political references, shared here. See if you agree -

Page 346

     "He's surrounded by virulent men who will do anything to prevent him coming to power."

Page 349

     After the House of Representatives voted thirty-five times in a deadlock, on the thirty-sixth ballot my father was elected, peacefully and democratically, to the presidency of the United States.

Page 376

     "Would the entirety of my father's presidency find him under constant attack? How could they print such a thing?"

Page 410

     He had virulent enemies in Congress......

Page 413

     "Your father's plans are ambitious," Dolley explained. "They won't be passed without the support of the congressmen's wives.  We'll have to win them over."

Page 416

     "In your Congress, where your husband serves, everyone has the right to speak?"

     "The members do, yes," I replied.

    He laughed.  "Then it will take years to finish any business! In my country, all matters are decided swiftly and with final resolution. In fact, if I don't succeed in my mission here, they'll behead me."

Page 452

     John Randolph had miscalculated the damage ladies could do. We couldn't fight in the war, but reputations were won or lost on our fields of battle."

Page 481

     "Because of the panic, they're calling in the loan in total. Hamilton is dead, but his banking system is still ruining the country."

Page 504

     But after thirty-four years of marriage, I now saw union between man and woman was the same as union among the states - as a series of debates and compromises that might hold it all together for a few more years, or end in a painful separation.

Page 575

     We live only two blocks from the President's House, which has been rebuilt since the war. It's now inhabited by Andrew Jackson, whose riotous inauguration has scandalized my lady friends. They've all warned of the new administration's vulgarity.

"AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER" didn't share too much about the DAILY LIFE of the slaves, but it did get across THOMAS JEFFERSON'S (and MARTHA'S) desire to abolish it. He was conflicted, because in that time period a farm couldn't be run without the help. However it was clear that HE NOR MARTHA ever got used to the concept.

Page 533

     Lafayette said, "I gave my best services to, and spent my fortune on behalf of Americans because I felt you were fighting for a great and noble principle - the freedom of mankind. But instead of all being free a portion were held in bondage. My old friend surely you must concur that it would be mutually beneficial to masters and slaves if the latter were educated an emancipated."

Page 534

     "But I put this to you.  Whatever be the complexion of the enslaved, it does not, in my opinion, alter the complexion of the crime the enslaver commits. A crime much blacker than any African face. It's a matter of great anxiety and concern to find that this trade is sometimes carried on under the flag of liberty, our dear and noble stripes, to which virtue and glory have been constant standard-bearers."

Page 550

     My father used his life, his talent, and his fotune to secure the rights of men to control their own destinies, and he still intended to command his."

Page 505

     Only men who owned fifty acres could vote or hold political office.

Well, in several ways, we've come a LONG way from this last statement!!

Perhaps I so enjoyed this book, because I recently visited MONTICELLO and also JAMES MADISON'S MONTPELIER. While reading, I could literally visualize their lives there.

I can't imagine anyone NOT liking this book. HISTORICAL FICTION at its finest!!

JOAN