What a wonderful book! I loved that the authors used excerpts from real letters. One thing I have learned over the years is that our Founding Fathers were flawed people, just like the rest of us. Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men were created equal, but was unable to free his own slaves. He had a long-term a relationship with a slave - and (potentially) fathered 5 or 6 children with her - despite the fact that she was his daughter's age, a slave, and at the time it would have been considered an incestuous relationship since Sally was his deceased wife's sister. It doesn't really seem that much has changed in politics over the decades, generations, centuries.... Men in power do what they want.
I really loved William Short. He was willing to sacrifice everything to hold to his principles. It's amazing that he could hold such strong beliefs and still consider Jefferson his respected mentor. I think that Martha (Patsy) was put in an impossible situation. Her father was giving her a MAJOR guilt trip, her mother made her promise at her death that she would look after her father, William Short wouldn't sacrifice his beliefs about the evil of slavery and return to Virginia.... Martha was presented with a lose/lose situation. So, she lost William and suffered through an abusive marriage with an alcoholic husband. I was actually quite shocked - and impressed - that she sought advice about divorce. I didn't think that was done in those times - especially in the upper classes where reputation is everything. I was so relieved that she reconnected with William Short after Tom's death in the book - and even more relieved that the real William Short was a significant person in Martha Jefferson's real life!
I admired Martha/Patsy for the strong woman that she was. I was also impressed that the men around her let her be strong (for the most part). Even Tom seemed to appreciate her strength - unless it went directly against what he wanted or believed. Obviously, both Thomas Jefferson and his daughter were highly intelligent. Too bad Thomas Jefferson and Tom Randolph didn't hire financial advisers! Their debts were staggering!
Really loved this book!
Wendy's Rating: *****
No comments:
Post a Comment