Martha Washington: An American Life

This look at the life of Martha Washington was very interesting. She really seems to be a woman lost to history by her legendary husband's very large shadow but this book gives a look at her strength and intelligence and also at the time in which they lived. A must read for any woman with an interest in American History.

Martha was the best partly because she was the first- but she really set the best example of making the best of situations that were at times FAR from ideal. She loved her husband so much, as was so dedicated to his well-being she sacrificed her own happiness on many occasions to be with her husband- sometimes at the risk to her own health. This biography shows what Martha's daily life was like, shedding light on her life before she married George Washington, and giving depth into her character and how it determined her decisions regarding how she conducted herself as the very first First Lady. This is SO worth reading-and a great intro into Revolutionary War characters and events that created her motivations while being First Lady and how to conduct herself. Less than 300 pages, I found it woefully short, but VERY readable! If you are into the Revolution, this is a book to add to your library.

To me Martha Washington conjures up the vision of a little white-haired, plump elderly lady dressed in modest attire with a "dishtowel" on her head. Ms Brady's biography of the first First Lady, the "mother" of our country as her husband was the "father" of it, dispels this dowdy image. Most of us with a modest grade school education in American history know of the panoply of male Revolutionary War heroes. Most of us have heard of Martha Washington, some know that George was her second husband, but beyond that she has little individual character and remains for most of us a shadowy figure in the background. As Ms Brady reveals this was not the case during the colonial period when her name was well known and honored, even revered. Although the author admits that very little primary material is remaining from the period, this due to the fact that the lady destroyed her correspondence with her husband before her death, she mines what there is from secondary sources such as letters and documents in the possession of others describing her, her relationship with her family and her illustrious spouse, and her role in the Revolution itself. The book is a proper history of the period, in that it does not often describe imagined scenes or put words into the mouth of the heroine unless the information is documented. Where nothing is known specifically about a situation, like the marriage ceremonies, the author refers to what was most commonly done at the time, placing the lady in the context of her time. The information fills in what is most frequently neglected in many histories, namely the human detail that brings events of the past so much to life. Most importantly, the author herself points out that so much has changed since the era, that even the sights, sounds, and smells of the period would be different. In fact, there is only so much of Martha's life that we can access. Martha Washington: An American Life starts with the First Lady's life from her childhood, spent in a comparative wilderness--by our standards--among a large family of siblings. Like many people of the time, Martha's brothers' and sisters' lives were often shortened through stillbirth, post-natal death and childhood diseases. By the end of the book, she is the only child of her generation still living, and she has outlived her own children, two husbands, many of her nieces and nephews, and some of her own grandchildren. It is very evident throughout the biography that life is nothing that can be taken for granted at any age by any level of society; there is never a time when one is "out of danger." This alone must have had a major effect on how people perceived events and on how they chose to lead their lives. One of the more interesting characteristics of the woman's life was her independence and self-confidence. Left a wealthy widow at the death of her first husband, she might easily have chosen to remain so. In fact few women except those who were widows of

Though an avid reader, I am unlikely to pick up a biography or a bit of history as my first choice when looking for a new book. Recently, I was given a copy of Martha Washington-An American Life as a gift. Of first interest was the beautiful cover, and when I learned the story of the age regression leading to the painting of a portrait used for the cover design I was fascinated. Once I began reading, I was hooked by the fascinating and well-told tale not only of our first First Lady but of the life style during the birth of our nation. This was the most entertaining and painless history lesson I have ever encountered, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Deciding that the book was interesting enough to share with others, I have purchased several copies to give as gifts next Christmas. This is a book that should be required reading for students of American history and anyone interested in learning more about the beginning of our great nation.

The first thing that struck me when I saw this book was the image on the dust jacket. It shows a young, attractive, stately, elegant lady. And when I saw the title was Martha Washington I had to realize that I had always thought of her as old, the First Mother of the country so to speak. Of course Martha Washington wasn't always old. She married when she was 18 and had two children by her first husband. She was also wealthy, strong-minded, and seems to have had a delightful, intelligent personality. After she married George Washington, she was for forty one years her husband's beloved partner and the mainstay of his stressful life. She set the standard for how first ladies should act in trying to balance the public and private parts of her life. As George set the image for the Presidency, Martha created the rule of the First Lady. This is one of the most interesting biographies in recent years. It is extensively researched and well written, but it also covers a subject that has gotten inadequate attention from biographers down through the years. The picture on the cover -- It is new. The LSU forensics lab took a later portrait, computer age regressed it to 25 years, and gave this image to Michael Deas who then painted the portrait. The painting is now at Mount Vernon. Splendid Book!