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A review by inky_7993
Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton by Tilar J. Mazzeo
4.0
Listening to the Hamilton soundtrack for the millionth time, I realized that for as much as Eliza Hamilton is a central figure in the musical, we really didn't learn much about her life pre- or post-Alexander (which is fair, given that the play's not about her), and I wanted to know more. And what do you know, but someone has since written a biography of Eliza.
One of my main complaints is something many other reviewers here have noted—that we can't possibly know what Eliza felt at certain moments in her life, nor her inner thoughts, yet in many places in this book they're written as fact. Seeing the immense notes section at the end of the book, I hoped to see some correspondence (or something) to corroborate these sentences, but that doesn't seem to be the case. My other unsurety in this book is the argument that the Reynolds Pamphlet was a cover-up for insider trading. It's an interesting hypothesis, but being so far removed (and with the evidence gone), I don't think we can ever truly know the truth.
Despite these liberties, I very much enjoyed learning about the life of the wife of one of the Founding Fathers. I've always been interested in women's history, in the figures who for most of history have gotten shunted aside for their more famous husbands, fathers, and brothers. It was fascinating to learn, for example, that at a young age Eliza accompanied her father to the council meeting of the Six Nations; that she was friends with Martha Washington while their husbands fought in the Revolutionary War; that Eliza seems never to have believed Alexander was unfaithful; and that Eliza traveled West to visit her son William in Wisconsin Territory when she was already elderly, quite a journey in those days. And that's to say nothing of what we already knew from the play: that she helped found an orphanage and raised money for the Washington Monument with Dolley Madison. All this, and she raised a family and ran a household. If any woman of the Revolutionary era deserves a biography of her own, surely it's Eliza Hamilton.
All in all, Eliza Hamilton is a good book to pick up if you're looking for a light history of one of the Founding Mothers. She lived a very long and interesting life, and I'm happy to know about her story.
One of my main complaints is something many other reviewers here have noted—that we can't possibly know what Eliza felt at certain moments in her life, nor her inner thoughts, yet in many places in this book they're written as fact. Seeing the immense notes section at the end of the book, I hoped to see some correspondence (or something) to corroborate these sentences, but that doesn't seem to be the case. My other unsurety in this book is the argument that the Reynolds Pamphlet was a cover-up for insider trading. It's an interesting hypothesis, but being so far removed (and with the evidence gone), I don't think we can ever truly know the truth.
Despite these liberties, I very much enjoyed learning about the life of the wife of one of the Founding Fathers. I've always been interested in women's history, in the figures who for most of history have gotten shunted aside for their more famous husbands, fathers, and brothers. It was fascinating to learn, for example, that at a young age Eliza accompanied her father to the council meeting of the Six Nations; that she was friends with Martha Washington while their husbands fought in the Revolutionary War; that Eliza seems never to have believed Alexander was unfaithful; and that Eliza traveled West to visit her son William in Wisconsin Territory when she was already elderly, quite a journey in those days. And that's to say nothing of what we already knew from the play: that she helped found an orphanage and raised money for the Washington Monument with Dolley Madison. All this, and she raised a family and ran a household. If any woman of the Revolutionary era deserves a biography of her own, surely it's Eliza Hamilton.
All in all, Eliza Hamilton is a good book to pick up if you're looking for a light history of one of the Founding Mothers. She lived a very long and interesting life, and I'm happy to know about her story.