America's First Daughter: A Novel

I grew up reading historical fiction. It fired my imagination, made me love the learning of history and continues to this day as a still loved source of reading pleasure. This book about Martha 'Patsy' Jefferson Randolph is beautifully researched, well written and a pleasure to read. The authors have taken such care to show the fulsomeness of Patsy's character that I often found myself reacting to her and the events of her life and some of her choices with a disbelieving shake of my head, laughter, gasps, aggravation, concern and frequently, with sorrow. The things that she does to take care of and protect her father and meet the responsibilities of a wife and mother during turbulent political and social times often left me feeling exhausted on her behalf. She comes across as a very unique character who truly understood the history she was living, so much so that her efforts are almost totally responsible for much of what the world knows about the details of Thomas Jefferson's life. In this book, Jefferson himself is no marble statue because we get to see him through the eyes of his daughter. Devoted as she is, his weaknesses are presented along side his strengths. As a Founding Father, he loved and nurtured the 'grand experiment' that is the United States, but did not know how, after the death of his wife, to nurture his own children. He was deeply emotional, but often discouraged emotional reactions by his children. He wrote that 'all men are created equal,' but kept slaves. He was man of brilliant intellectual ability, but also a 'dabbler' who seldom finished a project, once started. He was generous to a fault, but left his family in near penury upon his death. Finally, the authors convince me that he loved his children but it isn't evident until they are older and the quality of their intellectual abilities is shown. The relationship of Jefferson with Sally Hemmings and the children she bore him is not deeply explored in this book. However, what is told is often poignant and heartbreaking. The authors explore only a few of the many contradictions of personal philosophy and the human heart in this complicated relationship. Patsy and Sally are wary with one another, but work in concert to protect Jefferson both in life and in death. As a side note, the campaign for the Presidential election in 1800 which is chronicled in this book was vicious and petty with personal attacks and insults. Sound familiar? Ah, history...how it repeats itself. Bottom line: Patsy Jefferson was a helluva' woman. This book, told in the first person, is not only wonderful history, it is a compelling read about a woman faced with incredible personal struggles and responsibilities who felt both the glory and the weight of her father's legacy while he lived and after he died. She lived through two revolutions, the War of 1812, Jefferson's eight years as President presiding as his hostess in the absence of a First Lady, survived a difficult, often abusive marriage, bore 12 children and raised several that weren't her own, wrestled with the shame of slavery and preserved Jefferson's legacy. This book helped me understand that HER legacy is something to be celebrated.

My book club reads a lot of biographical fiction. It’s an interesting and entertaining way to learn more about a specific time, place, and person in history. This month we chose America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. With the first person POV of the main character, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph, it explores the life of not only Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, but of his contemporaries and family members. The book begins when Patsy is a young girl and finishes with her later years. It is filled with historical detail that a history-nerd will love. The Revolutionary War and the early years of the nation are not time periods I generally read, but this book was fascinating in its portrayal of a young nation founded on high moral principles, yet in reality a democracy riddled with injustices. Slavery, the huge elephant in the room given Jefferson’s own ownership of slaves and his relationship with Sally Hemings, is a big part of the story. Patsy is definitely a woman of her time, and though she abhors slavery (as do many of her acquaintance) she is unable to affect any kind of meaningful change. In fact, those with the power to do so either were unsuccessful or left it to later generations. The authors do a good job of balancing the context of the time (slavery, limited rights of women and children) with an honest portrayal of the subject matter. This is Patsy’s story to tell, and I feel the authors allowed this incredible woman to tell it. Patsy was witness to so much — the American Revolution, formation of a new nation, the unfolding of the French revolution, the rise and fall of political factions — yet she was first and foremost a dutiful daughter, a committed wife, and a nurturing mother of many children. Her life was both extraordinary and ordinary, and the novel expresses that so well. If you are a fan of early American history, then this book is definitely for you. My book club googled a lot during the reading of the book! We also had an outstanding discussion. Recommended. Audience: adults. (I purchased Kindle ebook from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

America’s First Daughter by co-authors, Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie A fascinating historic fiction created by two authors after immense research of letters that were written to and by Thomas Jefferson. The authors epilogue at the end divides actual facts, assumptions and liberties they took while creating this great novel. Jefferson’s oldest daughter Patsy, (Martha Jefferson Randolph) becomes her father’s strongest advocate where she protects, supports and advises him. Patsy takes the role as his companion after the wake of her mother’s death, and travels with him to France where he becomes American minister to France. During the French Revolution the Jefferson’s return to America. Jefferson is elected as America’s third President. Throughout the book, Patsy shows her strength and understanding as she helps protect her father’s political legacy, and his love for a nation he founded; a love greater than anything or anyone else. The story follows Patsy's life. An American life full of turmoil in forming a new world, touching on sticky issues such as; slavery, inheritance laws, women without rights, dowry’s, resolving conflicts by duels, Jefferson’s relationship with his slave, Sally Hemmings. Patsy’s life story follows our American history which by no means can be looked at as uncomplicated. Patsy married William Mann Randolph, jr. who's marriage became estranged in part because of the stress created by their tenuous financial situation. After inheriting his father's debts upon his death, Randolph had struggled to provide for his younger siblings in addition to his own growing family. The Virginian economic situation suffered several blows, and in desperation, the Randolphs had to sell their main property, Edgehill, along with its crops, buildings, animals, and slaves, and even this was not enough money to pay back all the family's creditors. Randolph, who had always had a temper, became increasingly angry toward his wife's father, his sons, and Patsy herself, feeling that they did not do enough to save Edgehill but focused on saving Thomas Jefferson's estate, Monticello, instead. The loss of his property was humiliating for Randolph, since in Virginian society at that time men had to own a certain amount of land before being allowed to hold office or even to vote. Randolph became irrational, and his angry outbursts caused all his adult children to distance themselves from him. He left his wife and their younger children at Monticello with her father, Thomas Jefferson, and lived alone for several years. Reading about our American founding families offers some insight to the less than glamorous and at times brutal day to day life of the American revolutionary era followed by turn of the century. It makes one see just how far we’ve come. This was a fascinating story of Thomas Jefferson's daughter and told from the perspective and attitude of those times. Definitely worth the read.

I was at first somewhat daunted by the length of this book but the journalistic power of the writing made this ambitious tale of early american history fly by. It is an epic story, filled with drama, strife, struggles, conquests and passion. In the hands of the authors, the characters jumped off the page with wonderfully crafted dialogue reflective of the times in which it was set. While I have not fact checked every historical reference it felt true and well-researched. I thoroughly enjoyed the read. To me, a fine example of historical fiction. More please.

Excellent book. I never knew she existed. Her life was given to her Father whom she worshiped. He was not perfect but she helped mold his presidency and his life for that matter. Different times for sure but it seems people were made from a different weave of fabric in those historical times.

Martha Patsy Jefferson lived an interesting life. Martha's mother died when she was younger and she became caretaker to her sisters and helped her father. She was able to live in Paris with her father, Thomas Jefferson. When they came back she met and married Tom Randolph. Tom's family was very interesting. These two had many kids and had a lot of hardship in their relationship. Martha made a death bed promise to her mother and that strained her relationship with Tom. Martha did her best for everyone even though it seemed at times that she didn't. She was a very strong woman and raised her children to be strong. Very good book!

One of the most complex and nuanced historical "novels" I have ever read. This is a must-read book for any fan of historical non-fiction OR fiction. Though all of the incidents described by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie can be traced to the thousands of letters and commentaries written by Thomas Jefferson and members of his family, the book reads like a novel. It is a rare delight, despite the weighty and often tragic story that it tells of Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph and her family through 50 years of their lives. I won't offer "spoilers" in this review, but I can reveal at least a few of the things I relearned in reading. Americans have generally heard the name of Sally Hemmings. She was the African American concubine and treasured love of Thomas Jefferson, and the mother of several children by him in his middle to later life. What we may not know is that Sally Hemmings was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha, for whom his daughter was named. Jefferson struggled with deeply divided feelings for nearly all of his life, concerning freeing or acknowledging Sally and her children. As one who wrote the ringing words "All men are created equal", he depended none the less on the labor of slaves to maintain the plantation life from which he gained his aristocracy. Also reinforced for me was a renewed sense of how fragile the American Revolution was for generations. In many minds, the Federalists were basically monarchists bent on returning the government of their confederated States to the power and direction of a monarch. They abhorred the whole idea of representative or Republican democracy and did everything they could to obstruct the political freedoms of common citizens. What a supreme irony that the name of Republicanism has come to be associated with many of the same elitist and anti-democratic instincts in our own times. Finally, readers of this book will relearn a reality in the historical significance of women: their lot in life was little better than that of slaves. They could not possess or manage property of their own. They could legally be compelled to obey their husbands, no matter how dictatorial or abusive the men were. In the extreme, they could even be killed on a man's whim, with little consequence to their murderers. Martha Jefferson was truly an anomaly of her times: an educated woman who was more than ornamental or valued only for her dowry. And even she was sharply restricted from demonstrating her own competence. This is a book that begs to be read and discussed with a teen-aged daughter or son. Answer that call!

Going into this book I knew about TJ and a little bit about his family. My mom was a social studies teacher and she loved this era of history and I probably picked up some of her knowledge along the way...But reading this book was just a great experience. In truth - it read like a novel and I had a hard time reading it slowly -- I could not put it down. It was one of the books that while reading it I kept saying - slow down - because I knew once it ended I'd be sad and miss the characters. Since I've been finished I've done more than one Google search about the characters just to feel them a little bit longer. I think my favorite part of the book was the way we looked into the eyes of Martha/Patsy and saw her grow up...but on top of that there was a huge dose of history and it was awesome to think about the timing of all of this -- and it wasn't all that long ago although many generations ago and the world has changed so much...which is the complexity of this novel. I always have had a huge admiration for Thomas Jefferson and this book painted him much more human than I had ever thought of him...he had his quirks and things just like we all do -- which made me to think about what makes a great man or women? In the end I realize that few men or women are eve perfect and this made me realize that often we have divine and perfect moments in life but we are still utterly imperfect as humans. The book also left me feeling very patriotic -- the lives that were lost and the people who were changed because of Revolution are often just seen as a 4th of July Celebration -- but it was so much more than that because it went on and on and on...and it became something that Americans had to fight for over and over and over. Anyway -- my final note is that someone should make a movie from this book -- and/or a mini-series about all the presidents. I loved the HBO series about John Adams and I'd like to see all the founding fathers remade with such glory. I know this was a ramble...anyone that enjoys history will enjoy this book -- with a touch of romance just for fun.

Beautifully written and engaging, I bought it for my daughter who is particularly passionate about historical fiction. She fell in love with the heroine and read the book in 3 days. Bravo!

A well written book with sound historical research that brings alive the people of that particular time in American history thoroughly enjoyable. C.A.Thomas

this is such a different way to learn about US history and one of his presidents. it is beautifully written and so interesting. i tried to read slower towards the end to make it last

This is one of the best book I have read. The language I have enjoyed, so much, the story is amayzing.

This is an easy to engage with story. The writing flows well and you quickly feel like you know the characters. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a good story.