I, Eliza Hamilton

Oh, how I do love a good Alex/Eliza historical romance. Buddy read this one with my mom! Yay, we both loved it! Two thumbs up! The execution was quite well done, with a good mix of history, romance between the two lovers, bits of individual character, details on the war, the economic crisis that followed, and the founding of the United States, and just really good pacing. I have such admiration for authors like Scott who can present long passages of historical fact, provide just enough wonderful bits of detail about hair powder, dress descriptions, passages about the terrible winter weather in New Jersey and the woes of the Continental Army not getting paid, and keep it fresh and entertaining chapter after chapter. This was masterfully show more done and managed to balance everything just right.

But the very best thing about this was the intense connection presented between Alex and Eliza. As we all know from history, Alexander Hamilton was a brilliant, passionate, but flawed man, and the book stayed true to that while still keeping the love story a love story. All in all, one of my favorite historical romances!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

I admit to being bitten by Hamilton fever last year. I shared the bug with my son. So when I saw this book in the library, I was intrigued. My son is trying to work his way through Ron Chernow's biography, but I wanted to see what Eliza's side might look like. All in all, it was a good, but dense book. I feel like a lot of time was spent on their courtship and early years, and the Eliza portrayed there was more insecure and a little flighty, as one might expect from a young, sheltered woman. I had trouble getting through some of these pages. As the story progresses, however, Eliza comes into her own as a woman and a partner to Alexander. I felt like the last few years of the story were rushed, but I did learn a few more details to the show more Hamilton-Burr feud. I wish more had been spent on her later years rather than that being resigned to a four-page afterword. A woman who lives fifty years on after her illustrious husband's death has far more story to tell. show less

I received a free copy of this book (via Goodreads Giveaways) from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The first half of this novel of Eliza Hamilton's life is dedicated to her romance with Hamilton during the Revolutionary War. I love history, but I never really got too interested in this time period. I certainly got a lot a lot of history here, which is both good and bad. At first, the history was enriched with enough period detail that everything was very much alive. As the novel went on, it felt like the period detail was cast aside in favor of the historical record.

The second half of the novel seemed to follow a rhythm: describe what Alexander is doing, brief family scene, have another baby, and repeat. The author did show more seem a bit more focused on packing historical detail into the novel than focusing on Eliza, as one would expect, with this title. I was rather disappointing the novel ends with Alexander's death. From what I understand, Eliza continued to live a remarkable life after he is killed, and we get none of that, except in an afterward. I would have liked to see a little less history less (I can't believe I actually thought this) and a little more of Eliza on her own.

Not a bad pick if you're a fan of the time period. show less

With all the Hamilton mania, I was intrigued to see this novelization of Eliza Hamilton's life. This book opens with the meeting of Alexander and Eliza and follows their initial romance and marriage, ending with the fatal duel. The author does a good job of providing a realistic portrayal of the marriage, complete with financial troubles and the devastation of Hamilton's extramarital affair, but also providing the reader with a couple who love each other. Overall, I found this book to be good (but not great) and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Hamilton or his wife.

I was a history major in college, and granted that was back with the dinosaurs, so my memory may be dim but this novel based on the life of Alexander Hamilton’s wife brings me knew insights. I may shake my head over the horrible things being said in politics today, but they had nothing on what was going on in the early years of the country. It broke my heart to hear how Hamilton and Jefferson feuded. It seem almost sacrilegious to find out our founding fathers could hurl such vile words at each other. I’m so glad I read this before seeing the musical Hamilton.

Eliza first encounters the charismatic Alexander Hamilton in the home of her parents, who are fighting for the liberty of the country. In the midst of the American Revolution, she chooses to marry her love and from then on, her love is tested again and again.

From the start, Eliza leaps off the page as a woman of her times. She is proud to support her husband and raise her children, because that was what she was raised to do. She was an excellent hostess, and knew what it was to be a soldier's daughter and a soldier's wife. The author does a phenomenal job in showing what her life was like, with her being concerned about making ends meet and keeping her family well and together. Eliza is not portrayed as perfect, she makes mistakes just show more as anyone else does.

The pace of the book is just as it should be, not too fast nor slow enough to bore a reader. The attention to detail, without dumping the reader with too much information at one time, is perfect. I learned a great deal about the time period that I didn't know before, which I always appreciate when I pick up a book based on a historical figure.

For readers of historical fiction, this a must read. show less

I am happy that we read this because Alexander Hamilton was known only to me by name not deeds. The hit play is enjoying phenomenal success and I want to see it. He was a founding father whose ideas were well thought out. He studied and observed other fledgling democracies and learned from what went wrong with them.