Martha Washington: First Lady

I read Martha Washington by Jean Brown Wagoner. I liked the book a lot. I liked it because Martha said what she felt, and she was always curious. It reminded me of my grandmother, she says what she feels and she is very curious. The book was mostly about Martha's childhood background and then "jumped" up to where she was older, there was nothing about her teenaged years. Her nickname was Patsy. Patsy had some siblings and many cousins. She got a pony and was the fastest racer that anyone knew. When she got older one of her "head" butlers, Mammy Tuck thought she was so pretty and that was true. She had met a guy named Mr. Custis, married him, they had four children together and two died along with Mr. Custis. Patsy was so miserable for a while but she kept the farm going. A while later she met Mr. George Washington, they got married. George had to go to war and Patsy went with him to his camp so she could help men, she did many things, knitted things for them for warmth, she made them food so they could have energy, and she bandaged them up. She lost her two other children in the war. The war ended and the 13 colonies became the whole United States. They voted to elect George Washington to be President. Patsy and Washington lived happily ever after.

Martha Washington was a loving mother and a caring person. She supported her husband, George Washington, and spent the winters with him at Valley Forge helping the soldiers in need. This book presents Martha Washington as a caring and supportive human being. The text is simple and straight forward. The book also includes interesting photographs and side highlights of things that happened during the revolution and that time period. Martha is depicted as real life character, who had to come up with a dinner for guests after the dog ran away with the ham, and as a teenager, once rode her horse up the front steps of a relatives home. The book makes the historical person come alive.