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Martha Washington: An American Life
With this revelatory and painstakingly researched book, Martha Washington, the invisible woman of American history, at last gets the biography she deserves. In place of the domestic frump of popular imagination, Patricia Brady resurrects the wealthy, attractive, and vivacious young widow who captivated the youthful George Washington. Here are the able landowner, the indomi...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
May 30th 2006
by Penguin Books
(first published 2005)
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I'm stashing this book on my "unfinished" shelf for now. It's really rather enjoyable, fleshed out with lots of anecdotes and period cultural stuff (colonial home decor, how they set their tables, how their children were schooled, etc.), and I can't say anything actually bad about it. I am, however, not one for elite history. Granted this is an elite woman's history, so it's not the same old Revolutionary period spiel - the author is rooted in a social historical methodology that tends to look f...more
This is a great biographical piece on the life on a historical figure that doesn't always get the deserved recognition because of her marriage to perhaps the most well-known man in our nation's history. This is a great look at her life, her trials and tribulations, and her marriage to George Washington and it follows her from her early years in New Kent, Virginia through the American Revolution, presidential years in New York, to her ultimate death at Mount Vernon.
My Thoughts:
I really liked this...more
My Thoughts:
I really liked this...more
I am glad I read this book right after the one by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, because it dealt with a particular woman's life during part of the same time frame, but in another geographic area as well as in a different economic class. Plus, it was just a good book!
I really didn't know much about Martha Washington before I read this. I've visited Mount Vernon a few times, and so I knew some basics, but nothing really substantive. As Brady mentions, after George Washington's death, Martha burned their...more
I really didn't know much about Martha Washington before I read this. I've visited Mount Vernon a few times, and so I knew some basics, but nothing really substantive. As Brady mentions, after George Washington's death, Martha burned their...more
A friend at work lent me this book. It was a fast read about someone I knew nothing about. The most fascinating thing was all the effort the author had to go to in her research. Martha Washington burned all her correspondence before her death. Quite a mystery.
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This was a great read! I fell in love with Martha and George when I vistited Mt. Vernon, VA and viewing their home made me want to know about both of them. This book really gives a historical picture of the devotion she had for George and how she was the behind the scenes supportive spouse that helped encourage not just him but the troops. She would travel my coach just to be with him, even in the winter, when he was away at war. I am not one who always finishes books that can become boring and...more
Wow -- Brady does a great job in bringing Martha Washington to life in this biography, not an easy task considering that Martha burnt her and George's correspondence before her death. I had read a review that Brady's biography was more about George than Martha, but after finishing it, I beg to differ. While George does figure prominently in the text, I argue that it wouldn't be true to form if he didn't in terms of what we can surmise about their relationship. They were partners in a way that wa...more
Aug 19, 2009
Karen
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Karen by:
I located this edition in a book store in Virginia
Martha Washington as the first 1st Lady of our nation set the standard for all others to be judged. This story gave a good account of daily life at the time as well as her influence on the nation as a whole. Life was most difficult in Washington's time ... illness, early deaths, difficult travel. Martha Washington was a strong, devoted wife with a desire to always be near her husband when at many times it would have been easier to stay at their home in Mount Vernon. I read the John Adams book ea...more
Jan 02, 2010
Janet
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
females interested in US history
Recommended to Janet by:
no one - found it at 1/2 price books
I gave this book 3 of 5 stars based soley on the author's sources. It is not as document-based as I would have liked. The author freely notes as her #1 challenge was to find good written historial notes of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington due to the fact that Martha herself burned most of the letters between her and George. Therein we lost much of her own voice. However, the author was able to discover much through other historical sources. And indeed I offer up 5 stars for the joy of reading...more
Nice account of life of our first First Lady. Takes a genealogist to appreciate early chapters as the author details Martha's ancestors. (And I did - amateur that I am!) I liked details about everyday objects and events as well as historical happenings. Too bad that in a desire for privacy, Martha burned all her letters. We could get closer to her actual feelings if they were available. Facts chosen by the author do a good job with suppositions made from other primary documents. Author's admirat...more
This is a short but well-constructed bio. I liked the opening insight into Virginian plantation society and Martha's top-rate eligibility as a wealthy widow before she married George Washington. She seemed like a very domestic and family-oriented woman who was uncomfortable with war and political life, but she also seemed very supportive of her husband and passionately patriotic. The book definitely lacked feelings and perspective in Martha's own words, but that's because she burned so much of h...more
I am waiting for the strength that the writer keeps exclaiming that Mrs. Curtis Washington had. She seems to be rather flighty and vapid. Yes, she cared for a household after her first husband's, but it never really explained the real reality of a woman in those times even if she was endowed with her husbands wealth. I fail to believe it was all business as usual. You never learn about Martha just about the things surrounding and they are written so prosaically you never actually get to the meat...more
“It was quite a love story, but a lasting one, not one of those tempestuous romances that blaze up suddenly and just as quickly turn to ashes. Both Martha and George had been in love with others, but once they married in their late twenties, their relationship became a joyful duet that lasted more than four decades.”
As the most famous American and possibly the greatest hero our country has ever known, George Washington has been much studied and written about. But to truly understand this man,...more
As the most famous American and possibly the greatest hero our country has ever known, George Washington has been much studied and written about. But to truly understand this man,...more
I had to undergo some medical testing with my sons and this book was just absolutely fascinating. I read it in a day and it changed my perspective on the First Lady of the First President. I absolutely love this book and love how detailed the lifestyle of Martha in those days. I orginally thought she was a fussy old lady but after reading this book, I no longer think that. If I have to have a favorite figure in the past (to add to my already long list) that I would love to visit, it would be her...more
The book provides wonderful insights into the many losses and hardship Martha Washington endured. She set the standard for all First Ladies to ascribe to achieve. Because Martha destroyed their correspondence, the intimate feelings the first couple had for each other remains open to speculation . Nevertheless the descriptions of life during the colonial period makes it well worth the read. I highly recommend a trip to Mt Vernon as a follow up.
Well researched and well written bio of Martha Washington (and by default, we read a lot about George also). Martha Dandridge Custis Washington burned all of her correspondence between her husband and herself so there is very little primary information available. But Patricia Brady has found letters and local documents from Mrs. Washington's contemporaries to portray our first First Lady.
I enjoyed reading about her life, chapter by chapter. It was easy to put down and take up again, rejoining M...more
I enjoyed reading about her life, chapter by chapter. It was easy to put down and take up again, rejoining M...more
I was interested in the story, but for some reason had a hard time staying awake while reading it. I also had a hard time discriminating between what was fact and what was speculation. I think that maybe if I had more previous knowledge of that time period, it would have been easier. The book definitely has potential, but it just didn't work that well for me.
I don't remember where I found this book, but really enjoyed it and am so glad that I read it. It's a great biography of Martha Custis Washington. I admit I didn't remember much about her and her life and was completely enthralled by how much the author found out about her.
Unfortunately for us Mrs. Washington burned almost all of her letters that she and and George wrote to each other. So their relationship was not widely known. But by getting other letters and correspondence from people (friend...more
Unfortunately for us Mrs. Washington burned almost all of her letters that she and and George wrote to each other. So their relationship was not widely known. But by getting other letters and correspondence from people (friend...more
Wonderful biography of Martha Washington. There have been few biographies written about her. This is well written and helps us see her as an important role as wife to Gen. George Washington and all the physical support she gave him, besides being well-informed and gracious.
Excellent, excellent book! I really enjoyed the author's writing style, although I was disappointed with some of her worldview assumptions--things she felt a need to explain to herself and her readers that were obvious to me--things that Martha and I (and anyone else with "old-fashioned" morals or a family-centric life) had in common, I guess.
I loved this line: "She wasn't fearless, but she was brave enough to do things anyway."
I'll probably buy this one sometime.
I loved this line: "She wasn't fearless, but she was brave enough to do things anyway."
I'll probably buy this one sometime.
This book gave some wonderful insight into Martha Washington's everyday life. She led a rather tragic one in her youth, but found such domestic happiness when she married George a bit later in life. Did you know that they had no children together? This book is a great, easy read, but you'll come away feeling like you've learned so much. And you'll really want to visit Mount Vernon.
The prose could be a trifle simple and the author didn't always explain how she came to her conclusions concerning Martha and George's motivations, but overall, an excellent read and well-researched. Even the bibliographic notes were interesting.
It must be hard to write a readable biography about a woman who burned all of the letters from the man who made her famous, and who downplayed her own contribution to American history. This was an interesting book about a fascinating woman.
Good book - there aren't a lot of fireworks here but the book gives some interesting insight into the relationship between George and Martha Washington. I had no idea that she was spending the winters with Washington at his camps during the war. Great for learning more about an impressive woman who helped shape history.
I learned a lot in this book, not only about Martha herself, but about her in context with the historical period. She was remarkable and George counted on her advice. Having just visited Mt Vernon, I had another visual context. This is a great read, colonial Virginia was fascinating.
This biography read like a fascinating novel. It brought Martha Washington to life, as well as George and many others. I came away with a much greater understanding of that time period. I highly recommend it.
I love biographies of First Ladies, and it's hard to find one on Martha Washington. There's not a lot of information out there about the woman.
I wasn't impressed with this book as far as biographies go. Like I said, I wasn't expecting a ton of information, but I like biographies that are engaging and read like a novel, not a school history book. This one read more like the history book. I came away learning nothing new about Martha.
At 236 pages, it was one of the shortest biographies I've read...more
I wasn't impressed with this book as far as biographies go. Like I said, I wasn't expecting a ton of information, but I like biographies that are engaging and read like a novel, not a school history book. This one read more like the history book. I came away learning nothing new about Martha.
At 236 pages, it was one of the shortest biographies I've read...more
Mar 19, 2013
Betsey Brannen
added it
To be honest, I couldn't finish this book. I thought the topic would interest me, and although it did at first, I found myself wanting to read the enormous amounts of fiction setting next to my bed instead. Therefore, I am not rating it nor including it among a finished count.
I read this book for a school assignment, we were supposed to write a obituary and a newspaper article about this. In tn history we have to do a presentation on it.!!!! I wound recomend this for projects.
Fascinating. The fact that she burnt all the letters between herself and George really makes me wonder about all the info we are missing on them both!
Well researched and interesting insight into a woman who was key in America's founding and little is known about (at least by me). I enjoyed it very much.
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I haven't had the chance, but it s...more
Feb 24, 2013 05:34pm
Feb 25, 2013 06:53am