A french royal court setting is always going to be alluring for me. I just love reading descriptions of the food and dresses that the ladies wore. Post-revolution America is not as enticing but the author has written into the plot several controversial topics of the time, some of which I never heard of before and they were quite interesting. The women in the novel had to exert their power indirectly as the men had the real power in the nation and in their homes. While I know that this just reflected the times, I hate reading about women having to live this way.
I knew nothing about Jefferson's daughter before reading this book. She certainly was a plucky character. Patsy's life story included running from the British during the Revolutionary War, handling many of her father's business affairs, helping him run the White House while he was president and, of course, giving birth to eleven kids after her marriage to her American cousin. I imagine that many women of this era had similar life stories to tell and I wish that I could find these stories. Alas, they were not written down unless they were members of famous families.
The authors also wrote a historical biography of Alexander Hamilton's wife Eliza. I loved that novel too and hope that this writing duo continues to write about the ladies of our American revolution. 5 out of 5 stars.
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