Abigail Adams

De: Woody Holton

Narrado por: Cassandra Campbell

Abigail Adams offers a fresh perspective on the famous events of Adams's life, and along the way, Woody Holton, a renowned historian of the American Revolution, takes on numerous myths about the men and women of the founding era. But the book also demonstrates that domestic dramas---from unplanned pregnancies to untimely deaths---could be just as heartbreaking, significant, and inspiring as the actions of statesmen and soldiers.

A special focus of the book is Adams's complex relationships: with her mother, sisters, and children; with her husband's famous contemporaries; and with Phoebe, one of her father's slaves. At the same time that John exhibited his own diplomatic skills on a better-known canvas, Abigail struggled to prevent the charitable gifts she gave her sisters from coming between them. In a departure from the persistently upbeat tone of most Adams biographies, Holton's work shows how frequently her life was marred by tragedy, making this the deepest, most humanistic portrayal ever published.

Using the matchless trove of Adams family manuscripts, the author steps back to allow Abigail to respond to her many losses in her own words. Holton reveals that Abigail Adams sharply disagreed with her husband's financial decisions and assumed control of the family's money herself---earning them a tidy fortune through her shrewd speculations (this during a time when married women were not permitted to own property). And he shows that her commitment to women's equality and education was intense and explicitly expressed and practical, from the more than two thousand letters she wrote over her lifetime to her final will (written in defiance of legislation prohibiting married women from bequeathing property).

Alternately witty, poignant, and uplifting, Holton's narrative sheds new light on one of America's best-loved but least-understood icons.

©2009 Woody Holton (P)2009 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Insightful, sensitive, and original.... Here is a bounty of fine-grained social history as well as a feast of language, from the eye and the voice of a historian-poet." (Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People)

Quite a story

I really enjoyed this book! I really enjoy history and liked the historical aspect of the story. I was interested in Abigail after listening to the First Ladies of the White House book! She is a fascinating woman and love she documented with letters through her life to understand her more?

A Woman of Moral Courage

I share Audible with my husband & this was my selection after completing John Adams by David McCullough. if you love history, you will appreciate every detail of this remarkable woman's life. Narrated in such a compelling and sincere style, you live each momenr with Abigail, her family & friends. I was deeply moved by Abigail's faith & loyalty to her husband & God. Like all humans, she was flawed but her goodness surpassed any shortcomings she had. She is someone I would have liked to have known persobally and counted as a close friend. An incredible woman for the time she lived in and the adversities she overcame!

The author, as a male but true historian, has done a superb job of capturing the true essence of her life as a woman in the 18th century. The narrator read this history like a novel capturing the subtleties & nuances that transported you into Abigail's thoughts and actions. I found myself laughing, crying, and applauding Abigail's moral courage. I will listen to this book over and over again.

Thumbs up

Very engaging and well read! An excellent narrative of Abigail Adams' life through her letters and the broader scope of early America.

Well worth it

I give the narrator an 8 out of 10.
If your a fan of our founding fathers this book connects the dots and some missing information dealing many misunderstood situations of our history.
We also get an understanding of life as a woman in earlier times.

Too much minutiae

I just finished the first leg of this book, and while it's clear that the author has done an amazing amount of research, and it shows Abigail Adams as a formidable woman of great talents, I could do without the crazy amount of detail into each small aspect of her role as head of the household in John's absence. The part where she repeatedly asks John to send her pins so that she can sell them at a profit is too lengthy, and frankly, not that interesting. While it's important to record the ways in which she found creative means to increase the family income, the section on her investment decisions gets tedious after a while. An editor should have pared it. I agree with the reviewer who said going for the abridged version would be smart.