48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holton does justice to Abigail's life story, November 16, 2009
This review is from: Abigail Adams (Hardcover)
Abigail Adams is perhaps best remembered for requesting that her husband, the not-yet-president John Adams, "remember the ladies" as he helped forge a new government in 1776. This famous private letter has turned Adams into a feminist icon, and while here she may have been specifically referring to domestic violence, in other letters she expressed what is often seen as a progressive, enlightened view that women should be equally educated with men and allowed to engage in business and control their own finances. This aspect of Adams's biography is well-known. But less so are her conflicted ideas on religion, African-Americans, money making, Europe, politics and family. In ABIGAIL ADAMS, by American history scholar Woody Holton, readers are given a vivid and complete picture of America's second first lady.
Abigail Smith was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1744, the daughter of a parson. She was raised by her overprotective parents but spent a lot of time with her more affectionate maternal grandmother. Along with her brother and two sisters, she had a typical childhood. She was atypical, though, in the sense that she yearned for an education forbidden to her, one of science and critical thinking in addition to literature and language. She managed to find ways to more fully educate herself through the study of languages and by reading whatever she could get her hands on.
Just before her 20th birthday, she married John Adams, a lawyer family friend nine years her senior. Though one would expect her concern with education and worldly topics to end at that point, she remained true to her belief that girls should be educated as boys are and that women possess intelligence, reason and dignity.
However, as Holton shows, Adams was not a feminist by today's standards. Her ideas of gender were complicated; she asserted that education and business opportunities were important to girls and women, but also believed that propriety, decorum and fashion were important as well. Her own business dealings were often done behind her husband's back, and at times those dealings verged on illegal. She was usually less than generous about African-Americans and foreigners or immigrants in her private letters, though she was always charitable and mostly kind.
It is the contradictions that make Adams so fascinating and Holton's book so interesting. This is not a romantic or idealized view of this American icon, but an honest, refreshing exploration of a remarkable woman who at once personified and challenged the perceptions of women of her time and embodied many of the changing mores and deeply rooted beliefs of the foundering generation of the United States.
Adams's tale gets all the more rich as she finds herself moving up in the political world. She spends years in Europe as the wife of a diplomat and comes home to be the wife of the first vice president and second president of the new nation. But while the politics and history are important, it is as a wife, sister, daughter, friend, mother and thinker that Adams is most compelling. And Holton does a terrific job explaining the ways in which she was a product of her time and place and how she was unique and trailblazing. The relationship between Adams and her husband is tender and relatable and their exchanges surprising in their language, passion and thoughtfulness. These sections often make for some of the best reading in the biography.
Holton's prose is at once light and scholarly; the details and facts are clearly presented, but he lets the story unfold in an entertaining way and allows the main characters to speak for themselves, stepping in to elucidate, explain and occasionally question the material.
ABIGAIL ADAMS is a must read for those interested in American history but will find many happy readers among those who thought historical biographies had to be stuffy or dull. Adams was a true partner with her powerful husband, a well-read and outspoken advocate for women, a financial risk-taker, and loving mother and sister. Holton does justice to her life story.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, original, well written, December 10, 2009
This review is from: Abigail Adams (Hardcover)
Everybody knows the name Abigail Adams but few people know much about her. The John Adams mini-series and the book it was based on hardly tell anything about her. Boy, was she interesting. Woody Holton doesn't just take us through her whole life but provides tons of interesting details. The part I found the most fascinating was the stuff about her financial wheeling and dealing. She was quite the savvy investor. And she even wrote her own will--at a time when women couldn't legally pass along property--to make sure her assets were divided how she wanted them. She was quite the feisty feminist icon. I thought Holton did a great job of bringing Abigail alive in all her complexity--not just the financial speculator, but the wife, the mother, the political advisor. After reading this its hard not to think that Mrs. Adams should be added to the pantheon of "Founding Fathers" as well. Not just as an early feminist hero but as an important player in her own right. The other thing I liked about this book was how it really placed Abigail in the ebb and flow of the events of the Revolution and John's presidency. Holton's a real historian, with years of studying the Revolution behind him, so he's able to bring context that other of the biographies lack. As you'd expect from someone who was a national book award finalist, Abigail Adams is smoothly written and easy to read. He's especially good at explaining complicated business deals in a straightforward way.
This book is great for anyone interested in the Revolution or anyone looking for a good read about an important founding mother.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fresh perspective on Abigail Adams, December 13, 2009
This review is from: Abigail Adams (Hardcover)
Woody Holton's rendition of Abigail Adams is not only eloquently written and deeply researched, it is also a brilliantly fresh analysis of a well-known name in American history. Adams comes alive as a financial genius and the confident de facto head of a family for much of her married life. Especially fun is Holton's depiction of her relationships with her sisters, showing her to be a complex thinker who was also a compassionate, committed, smart and savvy friend. It is so refreshing to hear something about Adams' thoughts and actions beyond the world of her more famous husband. A great read. Highly recommended.
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