Book Review: Washington's Lady

I have mixed feelings about Nancy Moser's newest novel "Washington's Lady." I love the history of the Revolutionary War period and everyone involved in it, and I expected this book to be a wonderful love story that clued me in to the romantic side of our first president. I expected words about the horrors of war and the triumph of the American people. And I expected to be told what wonderful, perfect people George and Martha Washington were.

What I discovered was a book that touched on all these things, but also focused more on George and Martha's time before the war. The book, written from Martha Washington's viewpoint, begins at the funeral of her first husband. One of the focus points of "Washington's Lady" seems to be all the deaths that shaped Martha's life, including the eventual deaths of nearly everyone she loved. This made the book a bit depressing at times.

The book also portrayed Martha's weaknesses, including the fact that she wouldn't allow George to punish her children. The children, or at least the ones that survived until adulthood, grew up to be irresponsible spoiled brats as adults.

I did appreciate the fact that, though a fiction novel, "Washington's Lady" provided widely unknown historical facts. In the back of the book, Moser is kind enough to point out the situations that were historical and her sources for that information. Who knew Martha often affectionately called George "old man," even when he was only in his 40s?

On one hand, I was disappointed because I hold the forefathers of our great nation in great esteem and it was disheartening to discover that they were just people after all. But on the other hand, it provided a wonderful insight into the lives of two people who loved and feared their God - and their "cause" of liberty for all.


ABOUT THE BOOK

It has been said that without George Washington there would be no United States. But without Martha, there would be no George Washington. He called her "my other self."Who was this woman who captured the heart of our country's founder? She dreams of a quiet life with her beloved George, but war looms...Though still a young woman, Martha Dandridge Custis was a wealthy, attractive widow and the mother of two small children with no desire to remarry. But when a striking war hero steps into her life, she realizes that she is ready to love again. She is courted by, then marries the French and Indian War hero. Yet she wonders whether this man, accustomed to courageous military exploits, can settle down to a simple life of farming and being a father to her children. Even as she longs for domestic bliss, Martha soon realizes she will have to risk everything dear to her and find the courage to get behind a dream much larger than her own. Her new life as Martha Washington took her through blissful times at Mount Vernon, family tragedies, six years of her husband's absence during the Revolutionary War, and her position as a reluctant First Lady.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Nancy Moser is the author of three inspirational humor books and eighteen novels, including Solemnly Swear, Just Jane, and Time Lottery, a Christy Award winner. She is an inspirational speaker, giving seminars around the country. She has earned a degree in architecture; run a business with her husband; traveled extensively in Europe; and has performed in various theaters, symphonies, and choirs. She and her husband have three grown children and make their home in the Midwest.