Synopses & Reviews
"Dearest Friend" is the biography of Abigail Adams, the unschooled minister's daughter who became the most influential woman in Revolutionary America. Rich with excerpts from her incomparable letters and alive with the ferment of a new nation, "Dearest Friend" captures both the public and the private sides of this fascinating woman. She was a keen observer of the politics of her time and fully grasped the Revolution's implications for women and slaves. She was an advocate of black emancipation and urged her husband to "Remember the Ladies" as he framed the laws of their new country.
John and Abigail Adams married for love, and their passion for each other endured for the fifty-four years of their marriage. They lived apart for more than a decade while John traveled in America and abroad to help begin a new country. Abigail remained at home for most of that time, writing letters to her "Dearest Friend," raising four children, managing a farm and the family finances, and keeping John informed of the political mood at home. This book chronicles their remarkable marriage, her blossoming feminism, her battles with the loneliness of separation, and her friendships with Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other giants of her time.
Intelligent, resourceful, and outspoken, Abigail Adams lived an uncommon life for a woman of her time. First published in 1981, "Dearest Friend" brings her legacy to our century.
Review
The Boston GlobeAs lively, sensible and forthright as the woman about whom it is written...illuminating...
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Kirkus ReviewsWithey has not only brought Abigail to life, she has also added new depth and richness to our understanding of the intricate history of feminist thought.
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William and Mary QuarterlyWithey's handling of Abigail Adams's foreshadowing of later feminism is masterful...Lucidly written and insightful.
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The Philadelphia InquirerLively and engaging...Withey's comprehensive knowledge of the era enables her to fill in the historical context with ease.
About the Author
Lynne Withey's books include
Voyages of Discovery: Captain James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific (1987) and
Grand Tours and Cook's Tours: A History of Leisure Travel, 1750-1915 (1997). She has taught history at the University of Iowa, Boston University, and the University of California at Berkeley, and is now the associate director of the University of California Press. She lives in San Francisco.
Table of Contents
Contents Preface
- A Minister's Daughter
- John
- Wife and Mother
- Politics
- War
- Independence
- A Woman's Sacrifice
- The Long Separation
- Years of Decision
- Europe
- "The Ambassadress"
- A Homesick American
- The Vice President's Lady
- An Interlude at Quincy
- Mrs. President
- "The Federal City"
- The Matriarch of Peacefield
- The Curtain Falls
Epilogue
Sources for Quotations
A Note on Sources
Index
Preface