A review by acitygirlsthoughts
The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs

5.0

At a glance I thought The Hamilton Affair was the inspiration for Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical "Hamilton" but judging by the reviews this came out before the musical. Nevertheless, if you want to learn about Alexander Hamilton, or are a fan of the Broadway musical, this is the book for you.

Cobbs Hoffman primarily focused on Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler's relationship, as well as his fight for honor and respect during the Revolutionary War. His mother divorced her first husband, then married Alexander's father. At that time it was illegal for a woman to remarry after divorce, so Alexander and his brother were considered illegitimate children, unworthy of inheritance and respect. This pushed him to attend college here in the U.S., where his writing earned him the chance to fight alongside George Washington. Rewarded with a military - later on a government - position, Hamilton finally earned the respect he wanted as a child in St. Croix, but his political enemies, as well as lust, will test him and Eliza for the rest of his life.

This is under the genre of historical fiction, just in case you thought this is nonfiction. The plot is easy to follow, but I was hoping Cobbs Hoffman would delve more into Alexander's political rivalry, since a lot of time is spent focusing on that topic, almost (in my opinion) more than his relationship with Eliza, but since this is the first time I'm reading a novel about Alexander Hamilton, I felt enough information was used to educate readers who have little to no knowledge about him.