A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams

Author:  Stephanie Dray

Who Picked the Book: Dara

One-sentence summary: Abigail Adams struggles to survive the American Revolution with a largely absent husband and simultaneously inspires both him, her family, and the new nation.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: There were many very interesting parts of the story.

Our least favorite thing about it: There were several boring parts of the story.

Main Topics of Discussion: War, Colonial Times, Families, Marriage, Parenting

Our favorite quote: "Because men oversee the harvest, they take the credit for the crop. But without mothers, not one sprout would grow—whether the fruit be a child or a nation."

Notes: We all mostly loved this book. We found it very interesting and there were several things we learned about American history that we didn't know. We did think that some parts dragged a bit or were boring. Overall the novel was maybe a tad too long. 

We loved that the fact this was historical fiction allowed us to see inside some of the relationships in a way that made them more real. We were interested in Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and the Adamses themselves and how they all were with each other. 

We loved reading about this time period and had previously not read a ton from it. 

We wondered at all the family separation and all the time diplomats had to spend in Europe to secure relations for our brand new nation. It was interesting to remember that for men, family was sort of an accessory for them more than a relationship, so the years of separation are explained away. Especially for the founding fathers, they saw their true purpose in their work for our nation, not in raising or spending time with their families. And that would have been very normal for that time. As we already knew, the "behind the scenes" work and sacrifice of the women was clearly drawn in the novel. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Dara decked out her house in American flags and red, white, and blue for us. This book was picked as part of our America 250 celebration. 

What We Ate: Josh made vodka and champagne cocktails, followed by an arugula, avocado and tomato salad. The main dish was mahi mahi with corn puree, roasted tomatoes, and asparagus. Dara made her amazing strawberry pie for us for dessert.