Nancy Moser does it again. Washington’s Lady is an absolute masterpiece. And a fine tribute to the lady who stood alongside Americas first president, our reluctant and yet dutiful hero. All those who know me know how much I adore this time of American History and this book lives up to my passion for it. Admittedly I do not know as much about George Washington and Martha as I would like, as I am a Jefferson girl (can you guess) But is books like this that make me crave to learn more about him and his Martha.

In this book we follow Martha’s story we meet her at the time of the death of her first husband and how she will move forward from there. Married only 7 years to that first husband, she was left the wealthiest widow in Virginia. She rejects many suitors, as she hasn’t found one who can capture her heart or inkling like that. Enter Colonel George Washington. Their match truly was a love match, and Martha stayed beside George through it all.

There were times when Martha did not wish the path that George took, but she was still by his side. She may have disagreed with her old man but she always supported him. The book does make a point at the very end to say that many say without George Washington we would not have America, which is very true. And the book than goes onto say, Without Martha Washington there would be no George. And this comment is also true. Behind every great man is a great woman. This book has taken place as the best book that I have read this year. I highly encourage anyone and everyone to pick it up, and read it. ( )

How did George Washington have the strength to basically be away from home for eight years during the Revolutionary War? How was he able to leave his home for so long and still have something to come back to? The answer, according to “Washington’s Lady,” is that he gained strength from his wife, Martha Washington.

Moser did an admirable job portraying Martha as a strong woman and an inspiration to George. Many authors of historical fiction portray women of the past as if they were women of the present, but I thought the character of Martha was well-balanced as a strong woman of her time and there were no major anachronisms that I noticed. I also appreciated that Martha was not written as someone so strong that she never made mistakes. Instead, Moser wrote both Martha and George as fully human with faults and doubts that any person might have, yet as passionate about and fully committed to The Cause.

The other major historical fiction trap that Moser avoided was that of turning the story into historical romance. I was actually quite nervous upon starting the book. I don’t really care to hear about sex between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII or Juana of Castile and Phillip of Hapsburg, but I desperately did not want to read a sex scene between George and Martha Washington. Luckily, Moser did not choose to indulge in any such thing, for which I was extremely grateful.

This was a good, solid work of historical fiction, with an extensive chapter-by-chapter discussion of what was fact and what fiction at the end (which I believe should be required of all historical fiction). I would recommend this book to any who are interested in the lives of the Washingtons or of women during the Revolution. I would certainly pick up other works by Moser about interesting historical figures.

For the full review:
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2008/0... ( )