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leilatre's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this audiobook. It was an interesting contrast to Alexander Hamilton's biography. Abigail Adams was an early feminist in many important ways (voting rights and property ownership in particular), but held many of the traditional views of the day as well. Looking at her life now she seems like an enigma, but maybe at the time her brand of feminism was not that unusual. I really enjoyed finally getting some insight into one of the revolutionary era women.
gianaf's review against another edition
4.0
This was honestly such an insightful, entertaining read. It really went in depth about Abigail Adams's life in a way that focused on her, not on her husband, which was nice. I feel like it'd be really easy to get distracted by the man- there are more documents for him- and put everything in context of him, but Holton really lets Abigail herself shine. I also felt like it gave equal weight to every part of her life. I feel like sometimes I get to someone's 50s and there are still 300 pages left, but Holton gave a good picture of Adam's from her early 20s to the end of her life which was cool. It was written in a way that was clear and engaging while also not being too quippy or sensationalized.
Overall a good read.
Overall a good read.
michelle_neuwirth_gray9311's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting and in depth look at not just the life of Abigail Adams, but the history surrounding the times in which she lived.
kathleenitpdx's review
3.0
An interesting view of Abigail Adams based mostly on letters that she sent and received. The thread that Holton used to tie it together is how Adams controlled money in a time when married women didn't have any legal right to do so.
Thoughts:
It is amazing how much American English has changed in 250 years. Holton defines for us words that have almost come to mean the opposite today.
How heart wrenching it is to have children die.
Again the myth of the nuclear American family is destroyed as parents spend years away from their children, die and remarry and children get handed around to various relatives and friends.
During the current controversy about what religion meant to the founding fathers, Abigail's attitudes and observations are interesting.
Thoughts:
It is amazing how much American English has changed in 250 years. Holton defines for us words that have almost come to mean the opposite today.
How heart wrenching it is to have children die.
Again the myth of the nuclear American family is destroyed as parents spend years away from their children, die and remarry and children get handed around to various relatives and friends.
During the current controversy about what religion meant to the founding fathers, Abigail's attitudes and observations are interesting.
librarianonparade's review
5.0
As much an endlessly engrossing biography of Abigail Adams herself, this is also an insightful look at the lives of women in the Revolutionary era. With no political or legal standing in their own right many women chafed against the strictures of the era, and Abigail Adams was a classic, perhaps a defining, example of this. Her 'Remember the Ladies' letter to husband John is perhaps the best known example of her early campaigning for the rights of women, but it was by no means the only or the last.
True to this, John Adams is very much a background figure in this biography. When writing of the wives of powerful and important men, too often the primary figure herself tends to get lost, obscured not only by the force and vigour of the male characters, but by the lack of documentary evidence available. It is fortunate then that Abigail and John were both great letter-writers, often separated for months on end by John's political career, and that Abigail did not destroy her correspondence upon her death, unlike George Washington's wife Martha.
Abigail comes across an immensely likeable figure and one modern audiences can immediately sympathise with, with her frustration at the lack of educational opportunities for women, her 'sauciness' and independent will, her financial transactions and political opinions. She lived in a truly remarkable era, and it's as much as a testament to her own character as the skill of the author that the Revolution itself pales in interest to Abigail's own life, much as the two were inseparable intertwined.
True to this, John Adams is very much a background figure in this biography. When writing of the wives of powerful and important men, too often the primary figure herself tends to get lost, obscured not only by the force and vigour of the male characters, but by the lack of documentary evidence available. It is fortunate then that Abigail and John were both great letter-writers, often separated for months on end by John's political career, and that Abigail did not destroy her correspondence upon her death, unlike George Washington's wife Martha.
Abigail comes across an immensely likeable figure and one modern audiences can immediately sympathise with, with her frustration at the lack of educational opportunities for women, her 'sauciness' and independent will, her financial transactions and political opinions. She lived in a truly remarkable era, and it's as much as a testament to her own character as the skill of the author that the Revolution itself pales in interest to Abigail's own life, much as the two were inseparable intertwined.
brookamimi's review
5.0
Abigail Adams was America's first feminist and all-around a super cool lady. This is a well-written biography that shows her tendency toward service and her business savvy.
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