Martha Washington: An American Life.

Martha Washington: An American Life. By Patricia Brady. (New York and other cities: Viking, c. 2005. Pp. [xii], 276. Paper, $15.00, ISBN 978-0-143-03713-2; cloth, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-670-03430-9.)

Within recent months, Carol Berkin's Revolutionary Mothers (New York, 2005), Catherine Allgor's biography of Dolley Madison and this work by Patricia Brady on Martha Washington have reminded general readers of the important roles women played in the founding of the nation. As these works make clear, the wives of the founding fathers were instrumental to the success not only of their husbands' careers but also of the republican experiment. Martha Washington, the first First Lady, is a challenging subject. Most recognize her name yet know little about her. Unlike Dolley Madison or Abigail Adams, Washington left few manuscripts behind. After her husband's death, she burned all of the private correspondence between them. Luckily, some letters to friends and relatives survived. Through Brady's "painstaking research," Washington emerges as a "delightful, intelligent, and passionate woman who shared a life of mutual love and support with the country's foremost founding father" (p. 2).

Covering Washington's entire life, Brady recounts the changes and challenges she faced as she moved from the private sphere of her beloved home, surrounded by children and pleasurable domestic duties, to the public sphere of revolution and nation building. She reluctantly followed her husband George onto the public stage, not wanting him to accept command of the Continental Army or the presidency. Yet, in her overwhelming love for him, Martha remained by his side, constantly supporting and caring for him. He relied on her and desperately needed her with him. As Brady persuasively argues, Martha helped hold the Revolution and, later, the early nation together by being her husband's main supporter and confidant. If he was "the indispensable man to the success of the American Revolution" and the new nation, then Martha "was the indispensable woman" (p. 144).

Brady's biography is obviously not aimed at a scholarly audience--or even classroom use. The book is not argument driven; in fact, there are almost no arguments. There is little historiography and a frustrating lack of footnotes (only direct quotes are cited). There are moments of real historiographical interest. For instance, readers learn that Martha changed her identity--"As the Washingtons entered the more public period of their lives, Patsy became Martha Washington"--and that Martha "humanized the national hero" (pp. 65, 114). But Brady never develops these brief, tantalizing points. While not all historical works need to be written for academics, Brady's book does not even exemplify the best of popular history. While we learn an amazing amount about Washington, the book is neither beautifully written nor especially gripping. She lived through and even witnessed dramatic moments in the history of the country, yet there is little sense of that drama in this biography. It reads more like a report of her life, relating as many facts about her as possible in a functional manner. The historical context of Washington's era is given short shrift, perhaps in the interest of brevity. It was not a wise decision--for that is where the drama is. How and whether the United States would survive is a compelling story. In her biography of Dolley Madison, Allgor superbly creates this sense of tension, urgency, and drama. Brady, unfortunately, missed her chance to do the same with this most famous of founding mothers.

CHARLENE BOYER LEWIS

Kalamazoo College