A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams

To her husband, she was Mrs. Adorable. To the people, she was Mrs. Delegate. To the nation, she became Madame La Presidante, autocratrix of the United States. If he was a hero for the ages, she aspired to be a heroine. She was the President’s Lady, a patriot brave and true, and where the president’s lady has a will, she makes a way. She was living in extraordinary times, and Abigail Adams became an extraordinary wife and mother. While the public had little idea of her importance to the president or the cause for independence, she was a revolutionary spirit and unafraid to take fate into her own hands. If a feminist is a person who advocates for women on the basis of their equality as human beings, Abigail Adams is a feminist icon. She is certainly the most influential of the early founding mothers. While she was the wife and mother of two presidents and advisor to both, the legacy for which she is best remembered is her own—a lifelong advocacy for women. She advocated that the liberty of a country depended on the ladies and the fight for freedom cannot be won without the patriotism of the women. We rely on their sacrifices, frugality, and industry with homemade wares. She implored her husband to remember the ladies. To be more generous and favorable to them than his ancestors. To refrain from placing unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. If particular care is not paid to the ladies, she warned, they will rebel, and will not hold themselves bound by any laws in which women have no voice or representation. All history and every age have exhibited instances of patriotic virtue in women. Abigail Adams was a serious girl thinking serious thoughts in a serious world. She sacrificed personal peace and happiness to promote the welfare of her country, even if that country would never thank the hand that rocked its cradle. A mother is the hub of the wheel in the family, and Abigail Adams shored up the truth, broke up the lies, and patched the holes in the stories being told of a nation she helped mother into being. In A Founding Mother. Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie present a fair and honest assessment of the founders’ justifications for rebellion and their hopes and dreams for this country. It is impossible to miss the novel’s contemporary pertinence and its timely publication. On the cusp of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is essential for all Americans to give extra thought to our founding documents, the men who wrote them, and their continued meaning and relevance to American society today. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!