Chris’s Pick
June 2018
My Dear Hamilton, A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
Published by HarperCollins, 2018
If you are a fan of these reviews, and have read any of mine, you will note that this book is a departure from my usual “Books (I) Love”. Drawn to exquisite writing, the turn of a phrase that stops my heart, a carefully crafted observation that speaks to my own truth…My Dear Hamilton is not that book. Rather, this historical novel is all about content. To say it is fascinating is an understatement.
After seeing Broadway’s Hamilton, I became interested in re-learning the history of our country’s founding. Watching the show (and listening to the genius lyrics), I realized I had a very simplistic understanding as to how all “this” happened. I didn’t know, for instance, why Thomas Jefferson is portrayed in the production as a simpering fool. Don’t we learn as children he was one of our great presidents?
In Ron Chernow’s definitive biography of Alexander Hamilton (as well as in My Dear Hamilton and the Broadway play), the seething hatred of Jefferson, Monroe and the Jeffersonian Republicans is a reflection of the times:
Feelings ran so high that Jefferson told one correspondent, ‘Men who have been intimate all their lives cross the street to avoid meeting and turn their heads another way, lest they should be obliged to touch hats.’ Hamilton thought that America was in an undeclared civil war that had segregated the country into two warring camps.
Treachery, lies, slander, manipulation of the press, even murder run rampant through these pages. The two-hundred-year-old story sounds so current, it is frightening. The Alien and Sedition acts passed then are warning bells for today.
My Dear Hamilton is a meticulously researched portrayal of the birth of America through the eyes of Eliza “Betsy” Schuyler Hamilton. Married to the man who must be given credit for the right to vote, a free press, written constitutions, a federal banking system, representative government, a standing army and the founding of West Point, he was also infamous for a sex scandal and, of course, the duel that killed him.
Eliza, the daughter of a general, emerges through these pages as a strong individual in her own right. The mother of eight children and several foster children, she is her husband’s strength and ally, often guiding him away from his own worst instincts. Despite heart-wrenching betrayals by those she loved the most, Eliza Hamilton became an incredible advocate for her husband’s legacy after his death. An ardent patriot, much of what Alexander Hamilton is remembered for today is due to this woman.
Never one to dismiss injustices, Eliza Hamilton also founded the first social services program in the country to provide for widows and orphaned children.
Eliza Hamilton lived 90 years, and we visit through her eyes not only her remarkable husband, but also George Washington, James Monroe, James and Dolley Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, Lafayette (both father and son–she took Georges into her own home when his father was imprisoned), even Benedict Arnold. And that is the short list. Towards the end of her life, she stands at the dedication of the Washington Monument next to Congressman Abraham Lincoln.
I appreciate that the authors provide several addendums at the end of the book; notes and insights into their research and research process. Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton is an excellent sidepiece to this novel, but let’s face it, history presented in story-form is much more enjoyable to read – which is why I loved My Dear Hamilton.