Eliza Hamilton

The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton

By: Tilar J. Mazzeo

Narrated by: January LaVoy

From the New York Times best-selling author of Irena’s Children comes a comprehensive and riveting biography of the extraordinary life and times of Eliza Hamilton, the wife of founding father Alexander Hamilton and a powerful, unsung hero in America’s early days.

Fans fell in love with Eliza Hamilton - Alexander Hamilton’s devoted wife - in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenal musical Hamilton. But they don’t know her full story. A strong pioneer woman, a loving sister, a caring mother, and, in her later years, a generous philanthropist, Eliza had many sides - and this fascinating biography brings her multifaceted personality to vivid life.

Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton follows Eliza through her early years in New York, into the ups and downs of her married life with Alexander, beyond the aftermath of his tragic murder, and finally to her involvement in many projects that cemented her legacy as one of the unsung heroes of our nation’s early days. Featuring Mazzeo’s “impeccable research and crafting” (Library Journal), and perfect for fans of the richly detailed historical books by Ron Chernow and Erik Larson, Eliza Hamilton is the captivating account of the woman behind the famous man.

©2018 Tilar J. Mazzeo (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Sparkling and sorrowful

A wonderful book! From her birth to death I felt like I was along for the ride of her life and got to peek in on the fancy balls and sorrows, everyday life and occasional scandals. Definitely recommend.

Brilliant exploration of an amazing woman’s life.

Having read (listened to!) biographies of Alexander Hamilton it was incredibly moving to hear the story from Eliza’s perspective. Mazzeo has delved deeply into the archives and posed some very different questions (and probable answers!) about what really happened between Eliza and her famous husband. Very well narrated too.

Fantastic

"Eliza Hamilton" is a refreshing look at the story of a "secondary" character in history, and a woman at that! The author clearly put a very large amount of time and effort into this book. I absolutely loved the note from the author at the end, it wrapped up the missing details nicely.

An untold part of history that is captivating

Loved it!! A must read.

An untold part of history that is captivating and most entriqing.

A True Amazing Story

Great listen. Both the writing and narrator were superb. Shows how amazing a woman Eliza truly was.

Absolutely wonderful!!

Incredibly fun to listen to! Perfect presentation of a very interesting person. Well written and narrated. I'll be enjoying this one again soon.

I would have preferred hearing both sides of the Mariah Reynolds affair during the story

By not acknowledging both (or more) possibilities as to what really happened during the Mariah Reynolds affair, it feels that the author wasn’t being truthful with the reader. It made me feel suspect throughout the entire story. She never explained why she thought such a powerful man like Hamilton would have trusted or gone into business with a scoundrel like Jame’s Reynolds. Or why the Hamilton’s never really had a lot of $ if Alexander was really profiting from insider trading. She did a nice job with imagining Eliza’s what thoughts and feelings may have been though. though.

Great story-telling skills and end-of-book commentary.

I’ve listened to other Eliza Hamilton books and this is by far the best and most realistic. This version makes the most sense. The author and narrator offered great story-telling skills and I did not want to stop listening to this book.I was pulled in and made to feel like I knew her. I cried several times during the last hour, just like I did in the Hamilton book. Great book!!

The real Hamilton story…

The musical is terrific, but the truth lies in the story told in these pages.

Eliza is a Fascinating Character

Great book overall, but the storytelling is not my preferred style. Very well done but I prefer my biographies to be heavy on detail and less focused on emotional scene setting. I'm sure much of that is due to the fact that much of the source material for her life is focused on Alexander and the other powerful men around her. I would have liked more detail about her exploits after Alexander's death regarding the orphanage, shaping the narrative of Alexander's biography, and other philanthropic work.