TITLE: First Family: Abigail and John Adams
AUTHOR: Joseph J. Ellis
STARTED: November 19, 2010
FINISHED: December 2, 2010
PAGES: 299
GENRE: Non-Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: [From the Preface] My serious interest in the Adams family began twenty, years ago, when I wrote a book about John Adams in retirement, eventually published as Passionate Sage.
SUMMARY: [From Amazon.com
] Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Ellis (Founding Brothers) gives "the premier husband-wife team in all American history" starring roles in an engrossing romance. His Abigail has an acute intellect, but is not quite a protofeminist heroine: her ambitions are limited to being a mother and helpmeet, and in the iconic correspondence she often strikes the traditional pose of a neglected wife who sacrifices her happiness by giving up her husband to the call of duty. The author's more piquant portrait of John depicts an insecure, mercurial, neurotic man stabilized by Abigail's love and advice. Ellis's implicit argument--that the John/Abigail partnership lies at the foundation of the Adams family's public achievements--is a bit over-played, and not always to the advantage of the partnership: "Her judgment was a victim of her love for John…," Ellis writes of Abigail's support for the Alien and Sedition Acts, the ugliest blot on John's presidency, all of which explains little and excuses less. Still, Ellis's supple prose and keen psychological insight give a vivid sense of the human drama behind history's upheavals. THOUGHTS: I have an historical crush on Abigail Adams. She rocks. When I heard an NPR interview with Joseph Ellis about First Family I added it to my hold list at the library. As luck would have it, the book was ready for me right before Thanksgiving break. So, I picked up my copy, traveled home, and read chapters in between chatting with my family and stuffing my face with pie (and orange glazed carrots).
Ellis has written books about John Adams in the past, but this work focuses on the relationship the founding father had with his wife. John and Abigail sent hundreds of letters to one another chronicling their life from courtship to death. Ellis uses these letters to create a highly readable narrative about how these two people fit into their time and with each other.
In his writing, Ellis lays out a chronology using the letters to demonstrate his usual historical research. While Ellis admits we can’t know everything about this couple, their letters speak for themselves and, often, need no interpretation. (Side note: I’ve been told the anthology of both Adams’ letters are incredibly interesting but can be difficult to read for long stretches.) I think Ellis takes the best of the letters, places them in context, and lets the reader make their own opinion about the people and their intentions. It’s all a marvelous lesson in history, wedded life, and trails of separation.
John and Abigail were a dynamic couple. They shared incredible highs and lows which alone would make for an interesting tale. The fact that Adams saw himself as a chief architect of a new society and government serves to heighten the drama. Abigail was with him (pushing him, in fact) the whole way. I shall not recount all the new information I learned because the book does a fine job of recreating history for the reader.
First Family is not a perfect book. The text contains several stretches of drawn out facts or explanatory narrative that takes a while to plod through. Along with those instances, Ellis repeats himself several times. The author is a man who loves research and who loves to talk about his research. I would enjoy dinner conversation with Ellis, but I do wish he had kept some of his comments to a minimum. On the whole, however, this is a fantastic work of historical research told as an absorbing story.
My historical crush on Abigail continues. She rocks.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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