Dearest, Friend (1000 Books to Read)

My review: I am going to see if I can do this in two columns because the Mustich reason why it is in the 1000 Books to Read before You Die List copy and pasted to a right column. 

I read John Adams and 1776 by David McCullough. So, I was pretty familiar with the history behind the story. Consequently, much of this was repetitive for me, but it was nice to dive more deeply into her life. She sounds like a very strong woman who loved her husband and her children (though she tended to mettle too much in their lives when they became adults). 

One thing that was curious was that she didn't address Thomas Jefferson's passive-aggressive acts toward John Adams while he was Adams' Vice President. That is a big emphasis in the McCullough books. 

James Mustich

Dearest Friend (1981) is an authoritative biography of the resourceful person who would become our second First Lady when her husband, John, succeeded George Washington as president. Before she assumed that role, she stayed at home to manage the family farm and raise four children while John was off fomenting revolution and imagining independence for the new nation. The letters that make up her half of their remarkable correspondence during this period express the hopes and anxieties she shared with other ordinary citizens, revealing Abigail to be a figure of forceful character and quick wit—qualities Withey’s book brings to memorable life.