Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers

By Barbara Hambly

When Martha Dandridge Custis marries her second husband, George, she never suspects that the soft-spoken Virginia planter is destined to command the founding of a nation—or that she is to be “Lady Washington,” the woman at the first President’s side. Only a select inner circle of women will know the cost of sharing a beloved man with history . . . and each will draw strength from the unique treasure given to them by a doomed queen.

Seeing farm and family through each harsh New England season, Abigail Adams is sustained only by the fervent reunions stolen between John’s journeys abroad. She will face the terror of an ocean crossing to join her husband in France—and write her own page in history. And there she will cross paths with kings, commoners—and young Sally Hemings.

Just as Sally had grown from a clever child to a beautiful woman, so had her relationship with Thomas Jefferson grown from a friendship between slave and master to one entangled in the complexities of black and white, decorum and desire. It is a relationship that will leave Sally to face an agonizingly wrenching choice.

Dolley Madison, too, must live with the repercussions of a forbidden love affair—although she will confront even greater trials as a President’s wife. But Dolley will become one of the best-loved ladies of the White House—and leave an extraordinary legacy of her own.

A lushly written novel that traces the marriages tested by the demands of love and loyalty, Patriot Hearts offers readers a dazzling glimpse behind the scenes of a revolution, from adversity and treachery to teatime strategies, as four magnificent women shape a nation’s future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 30, 2007
• ISBN: 9780553903416

Barbara Hambly

Barbara Hambly, though a native of Southern California, lived in New Orleans for many years while married to the late science fiction writer George Alec Effinger. Hambly holds a degree in medieval history from the University of California and has written novels in numerous genres.

Reviews for Patriot Hearts

[justchris_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The subtitle is A Novel of the Founding Mothers, and it covers the years 1787-1815 with narration back to about 1773. This book is very different from Barbara Hambly's usual style. It is written as a series of interlocking vignettes with the imminent burning of Washington by British soldiers in 1814 as the larger frame. The stories jump back and forth through time and are told from the perspectives of Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, the controversial Sally Hemings, and Dolley Madison. So they are a sideways perspective on the political and personal events prior to and during the presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Only a couple of the characters in the novel are completely fictional. A Dramatis Personae at the end clearly indicates these, as well as describing all of the real historical figures that have even brief mention in the book.I enjoyed the book, but it is always embarrassing to read something like this and not know how it will end and to be completely unfamiliar with many of the events and people described. It was the same way when I watched Apollo 13. At least I knew the Titanic went down, but it's a pretty sad commentary on my knowledge base and I consider myself above average in terms of education and knowledge. I tend to concentrate on the medieval era, so the most recent 300 hundred years are a blur to me.Once again, I learned more history from my recreational reading than in public school history classes. I am sure we covered all of these things decades ago, but I am terrible with names and dates, and sometimes history class just feels like an endless roll call of Important Men and Battles and Laws. This is a work of fiction, so all of the feelings and dialogue are essentially pure invention. But the physical objects, people, events, and even attitudes are largely well-documented historical fact, I'm sure, with the exception of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, who are the only unmarried couple represented--I will not get into a debate of whether they really were a couple--and around whom (as a couple) there isn't an extensive body of both modern scholarly research and contemporary documents.The only real drawback is that the vignette format meant that there isn't a plot continuously moving forward, and the novel isn't necessarily driven by dialogue. While the copious descriptions and exposition are valuable, the book's layout tempted me more than once to jump ahead to the next sequence with the same characters or more stimulating action. It was a fun, painless way to become familiar with Revolutionary Era history and a poignant reminder of the hard choices and personal costs involved with public service, which even today remain largely invisible thanks to the still-poor accounting of the private, "female" sphere of life.

[northandsouth_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel was obviously extremely well-researched, however, I believe this actually got in the way of the story. Hambly tries to cram to much erroneous information into the book and this, I believe, takes the attention and focus away from the true feelings and hardships of the Founding Mothers. She had lofty goals to tell the story of four very different woman and in the making of it, she loses the essence of each one. The book also switches perspective and time much too often and the reader is often confused about when, where, and who the story is about. I was going to read "The Emancipator's Wife" following this book, but now I am not sure that I will.

[milibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What do Martha Washington, Abigal Adams, Sally Hemings, and Dolley Madison have in common? All loved men who were involved in the early years of this country, and all sometimes had to put aside their own dreams so that their men could work towards the establishment of a working government.From the time of the Revolution through the British march on Washington, DC in 1814, the stories of these four women are intertwined with each other and the birth of a nation. As they struggle to raise their children and often confront the struggles of loving someone who also loves his new country, the reader is given a fresh look at the formation of the United States through their eyes. Each one of the women and their times are brought to life in this wonderful piece of historical fiction. As they learn that “We go where our hears command us, in the faith that is God who formed our hearts” the reader learns about the hard work and sacrifice required to form this country.