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A review by librarianonparade
Abigail Adams by Woody Holton
5.0
As much an endlessly engrossing biography of Abigail Adams herself, this is also an insightful look at the lives of women in the Revolutionary era. With no political or legal standing in their own right many women chafed against the strictures of the era, and Abigail Adams was a classic, perhaps a defining, example of this. Her 'Remember the Ladies' letter to husband John is perhaps the best known example of her early campaigning for the rights of women, but it was by no means the only or the last.
True to this, John Adams is very much a background figure in this biography. When writing of the wives of powerful and important men, too often the primary figure herself tends to get lost, obscured not only by the force and vigour of the male characters, but by the lack of documentary evidence available. It is fortunate then that Abigail and John were both great letter-writers, often separated for months on end by John's political career, and that Abigail did not destroy her correspondence upon her death, unlike George Washington's wife Martha.
Abigail comes across an immensely likeable figure and one modern audiences can immediately sympathise with, with her frustration at the lack of educational opportunities for women, her 'sauciness' and independent will, her financial transactions and political opinions. She lived in a truly remarkable era, and it's as much as a testament to her own character as the skill of the author that the Revolution itself pales in interest to Abigail's own life, much as the two were inseparable intertwined.
True to this, John Adams is very much a background figure in this biography. When writing of the wives of powerful and important men, too often the primary figure herself tends to get lost, obscured not only by the force and vigour of the male characters, but by the lack of documentary evidence available. It is fortunate then that Abigail and John were both great letter-writers, often separated for months on end by John's political career, and that Abigail did not destroy her correspondence upon her death, unlike George Washington's wife Martha.
Abigail comes across an immensely likeable figure and one modern audiences can immediately sympathise with, with her frustration at the lack of educational opportunities for women, her 'sauciness' and independent will, her financial transactions and political opinions. She lived in a truly remarkable era, and it's as much as a testament to her own character as the skill of the author that the Revolution itself pales in interest to Abigail's own life, much as the two were inseparable intertwined.