My Theodosia

Daughter of America's Napoleon, 1 Oct. 2012
By
sally tarbox

This review is from: My Theodosia (Paperback)
Really readable and enjoyable story of Theodosia, daughter of charismatic and ambitious Vice-President Aaron Burr. Levered into an unsatisfying marriage which will benefit her father, Theodosia is sent to the fever-filled lands of the Waccamaw Neck in S. Carolina, where her husband owns a plantation.
Yet everything in her life takes second place to the father she adores:
'you appear to me so superior, so elevated above all other men, I contemplate you with such a strange mixture of humility, admiration, reverence, love and pride, that very little superstition would be necessary to make me worship you as a superior being' (from an actual show more letter she wrote in 1809).
However her father's star is on the wane- debt, killing a political rival in a dual, and his subsequent grandiose schemes to become- like his contemporary Napoleon- an emperor, lead to his being a wanted man...
Seton conjures up the world of 1800s Carolina particularly well: the scenery, the 'gullah' slave communities, the plantations and the disease.
Some of the romantic scenes were faintly Mills and Boonish, but I did enjoy the book and learnt so much! show less

I was entranced by this story when I first read it, and was delighted to find that it stood up on rereading. Its really the story of a rather intense and not too healthy father-daughter relationship. How does a young woman reconcile when either her idealized father falls from grace? And what happens when despite this no one else seems to be quite as wonderful?

A lightly fictionalized account of Theodosia Burr, only child of Aaron Burr. I don't know much of Burr except the famous duel and he comes across as a complex character here; vain, power-mad, beset by jealousies, but also charismatic and able to inspire deep devotion in some people. Theo adores him and will never see anything he does as wrong, though it leads her to an adult life that seems mostly full of misery. Seton seems to have done a great deal of research but it appears the historical facts are scanty and she never quite brings Theo to life. Even if she had, I'm not sure I would find much to enjoy about her. The slavish devotion to her father is strange but she also seems to fall deeply in love at the drop of a hat and inspire show more love in most men she encounters. As well as she created the world of the Burrs, I didn't believe as much in the people so it fell at bit flat. show less

Theodosia Burr is the smart, adoring, seventeen-year-old daughter of Aaron Burr, who was vice-president at a time when one attained the office by being the runner-up in a presidential election. Thus, the president, Thomas Jefferson, is actually his political rival. Having run into both political and financial hardship, Aaron arranges for Theodosia to marry Joseph Alston, a wealthy but unattractive and dull Carolina planter. Shocked that her father would be desperate enough to send her to such a fate, but resigned, Theodosia goes willingly and begins her life at The Oaks, Joseph's plantation. A son brings her boy joy and pain, as does a clandestine relationship with Meriwether Lewis who, along with William Clark, is about to embark on show more his famous exploration into the unknown western territory.

Theodosia's ultimate fate is suggested at the end of the book, although the reality is that it is still a mystery. This book appears to be out of print, which is unfortunate as Anya Seton is very talented and has become one of my favorite authors of historical fiction. I didn't enjoy this work quite as well as some of her others, but it's definitely worth a read. show less

Excellent character, especially considering I'd never heard of her before reading the book. Also a fascinating image of how American life might have been post-Revolution.

Annoying, uninteresting to me because of the characters covered (never heard of Aaron Burr before, clearly was supposed to have). Racist and offensive. Still finished it mind you, so there are worse books I've picked up.