Customer Reviews

Jefferson: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed "Jefferson", probably because it escaped the dry boredom of a history textbook. The story was frank and honest, and perhaps that was it's downfall for me, because I really didn't like the character of Thomas Jefferson. Byrd did an excellent job, though there was quite a bit more about the French sex life than I would have cared to hear about. If you're not into history, don't touch this. You will be bored, but if you're interested in Jefferson, or his era, you will really enjoy this book.

Through happenstance, I've read three of Max Byrd's novels in reverse order. The first (for me) being "Grant", then "Jackson", and finally this book, "Jefferson". At first, I felt that Byrd's books got better with each novel but toward the end of "Jefferson", I began to alter my view. It is a wonderful account of fictionalized history of Jefferson's time in Paris. They're some constants in each book. There's enough sex, including James Heming's visit to some of the brothels of Paris, to provide a lurid view for those that need such enticement and there's also the book within a book. In this book, William Short, who was Jefferson's secretary while he was this Nation's diplomat to France writes his memoirs of Jefferson. Byrd does a wonderful job with these memoirs, including a description of Patrick Henry's famous speech at St. John's church in Richmond. Furthermore, the book does an excellent job of contrasting very vocal Henry, who wrote little and seldom stayed for the "pick-and-shovel" work of committees and meetings, with Jefferson who seldom gave speeches but could put words onto paper that endure for all time...the Declaration of Independence among them. As a fan of General Lafayette I was pleased to see so much reference to this exceptional hero who is often overlooked. Byrd accurately portrays Lafayette as not overly brilliant but maintaining close ties to the American society of Paris and fueling the fires for the overthrow of the King. As with all of Byrd's work his detailed research lead to wonderful "tib-bits" of history that might otherwise reside only on dusty selves of scholar's holdings. This book is a wonderful account of Jefferson's time in Paris and deserving of a place in any library.

A fine, readable account of Jefferson's tenure as ambassador to France after the American Rovolution. Shows Thomas Jefferson as a man of conviction, but complete with faults, conflicts and an amorous soul. The story is told through the character of William Short, Jefferson's secretary and is the most readable and historically accurate account of Jefferson and his time I have read. Complemented with references to Franklin, Adams, Layfette and others the book is intriguing and very readable and enjoyable. Not dry or scholarly this book gives anyone interested in "Jefferson, The Man" a novel to enjoy as well as an opportunity to learn more about Jefferson and his times. Well worth the price and time invested.

Max Byrd writes this book of historical fiction through the eyes of William Short as Jefferson's secretary and protege while they were in France. A man young enough to enjoy all that France had to offer; a man close enough to observe Jefferson as his mind observes the French people and the wonders of France.

Reading this book literally puts you into the time and place, descriptions of the sight and smells, sounds and touch of the eighteenth-century of Paris, France. The easily read narative takes you right along with the major characters as they live out their day to day lives. You feel the life breath as they interact, and the psychological insight... John Adams as stout as a tree trunk, bird-breasted with boney knees, Jefferson with an angular nose and chiseled features with blue eyes that revealed nothing, but observation. Ben Franklin short, fat, bald and always a flirt with kidney stones... Ambassador of Babel.

These are just a few of the numerous observations sprikled with humor and wit that takes the reader along on this adverture as a observer of times past.

This was an enjoyable read... I truly loved reading this book of novalized historical fiction.

Jefferson: Great defender of human rights or hypocrite? You will still be wondering after finishing this novel. This book bogs down in detail and neither grabs the reader with a great plot or interesting characters. Easily eclipsed by Byrd's second historical novel, Jackson (5 stars!). However, the book is full of interesting historical people and is set in a very interesting time (prerevolutionary France). History buffs should enjoy while literature buffs should avoid. Psychology buffs maybe (the author suggests that Jefferson disliked his mother and that shaped his feelings on many things such as his view of England). I think that both the good and bad reviews of this book are fair and on the mark.

Having read "Jackson, A novel" first, I was very disappointed with this effort. And it takes some effort to struggle through this book. Little insight is provided into the enigmatic Jefferson. The character is not well developed and the book lacks pace, being mired in insipid detail. The members of the supporting cast are presented as effete sycophants or sybarites. Even the illicit relationships lack spice. In all fairness, the book may have spark interest in some as a period piece, but it didn't do much for me. I loved "Jackson", was not impressed with "Jefferson", but I look forward to "Grant" with much anticipation.

Max Byrd writes this book of historical fiction through the eyes of William Short as Jefferson's secretary and protege while they were in France. A man young enough to enjoy all that France had to offer; a man close enough to observe Jefferson as his mind observes the French people and the wonders of France.

Reading this book literally puts you into the time and place, descriptions of the sight and smells, sounds and touch of the eighteenth-century of Paris, France. The easily read narative takes you right along with the major characters as they live out their day to day lives. You feel the life breath as they interact, and the psychological insight... John Adams as stout as a tree trunk, bird-breasted with boney knees, Jefferson with an angular nose and chiseled features with blue eyes that revealed nothing, but observation. Ben Franklin short, fat, bald and always a flirt with kidney stones... Ambassador of Babel.

These are just a few of the numerous observations sprikled with humor and wit that takes the reader along on this adverture as a observer of times past.

This was an enjoyable read... I truly loved reading this book of novalized historical fiction.

Max Byrd writes this book of historical fiction through the eyes of William Short as Jefferson's secretary and protege while they were in France. A man young enough to enjoy all that France had to offer; a man close enough to observe Jefferson as his mind observes the French people and the wonders of France.

Reading this book literally puts you into the time and place, descriptions of the sight and smells, sounds and touch of the eighteenth-century of Paris, France. The easily read narative takes you right along with the major characters as they live out their day to day lives. You feel the life breath as they interact, and the psychological insight... John Adams as stout as a tree trunk, bird-breasted with boney knees, Jefferson with an angular nose and chiseled features with blue eyes that revealed nothing, but observation. Ben Franklin short, fat, bald and always a flirt with kidney stones... Ambassador of Babel.

These are just a few of the numerous observations sprikled with humor and wit that takes the reader along on this adverture as a observer of times past.

This was an enjoyable read... I truly loved reading this book of novalized historical fiction.

Jefferson is a portrait of the most enigmatic man in American history, framed in the gilt-edged, multi-faceted setting of Paris just before the French Revolution. The subject matter is as rich as Virginia loam, and on it the author raises a bountiful crop of period detail and striking observation. The subtitle of the book, however, shows up its weakness: A Novel. What's missing is the narrative drive. What should be a vehicle is instead a graceful and perfectly appointed 18th-century estate--though there is much about it to be admired, it doesn't go anyplace.

Jefferson's years as American ambassador to France are observed by and reflected from a host of historical characters, some better known than others: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, LaFayette; the painter Maria Cosway, the slave James Hemmings, Jefferson's daughter Polly, Jefferson himself. The principle burden is carried by William Short, a young Virginian who serves as the Ambassador's secretary. Short is something of a problem: a sharp but colorless observer, he is forced to carry too much of the narrative, but not allowed to develop. At the end of the book we know as much about him as we did at the beginning--that he is handsome, horny, blushes too easily and admired his employer with some degree of ambivalence. Of all the characters, the pretty, fluffy Maria Cosway is the most successful. In her brief affair with Jefferson she reveals a substance and vulnerability one does not expect. The portrayal of the title character will be revealing only to readers who know very little about him. Enigmatic to the last, he shares a lot of the attributes of this book: fascinating and brilliant, but never forthcoming, never resolved.

Byrd has done an excellent job of putting the French Revolution into the context of the American Revolution. I enjoyed the perspectives of the impressionable young Short and his master Jefferson on the situation in Paris leading up to the Revolution. However, this book never quite takes flight, and Byrd devolves into sordid descriptions of Jefferson's and Short's daliances with married women. The reader is shortchanged by the suggestion that the complexities of these men is driven by their lewd behavior. The smuttiness does not end here. Byrd chronicles the seedy side of Paris through the exploits of Jefferson's slave James. James's ineveitable request of emancipation is driven by his desire to participate in the circus-like excess of Paris, much to my disappointment. Although I learned much about the hypocrisy of Jefferson, the burden of reading this book far outweighed the lessons of this great man. The plot never quite develops and the dialogue is very inconsistent.