Martha Washington: An American Life

Details of domestic life, unknown facts, exerts from personal letters.

There are very few books solely about Martha Washington. This is a very readable book, made very enjoyable about how they lived back then, giving a lot of interesting details about life in colonial America. The author gives lots of information of what Martha looked like, her personality and behavior which we usually never read about. Poor Martha usually gets totally buried in information about George, although there were some details about George also. Highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Colonial America.

Easy to read and comprehend - all fact and feeling. I enjoyed this book very much as it opened up the historical times so excellently!

I loved this book! I took my time reading it so that everything could soak in, but I finally finished it now.The author did such thorough research and it really helped me to get to know Martha Washington as a person rather than just a cold, distant portrait as a side note to George Washington. It seems that they were greatly in love and it's very comforting to know how much he adored and respected Martha. It's empowering to realize that she was a strong independent woman who chose to marry George and comforted and accompanied him in the birth of our nature. She was vital to our history in so many ways that I wasn't aware of! So glad I decided to read this! I'm beginning a personal "First Ladies Challenge" where I want to learn more about US history and to see it from their eyes. This was the first book on my list and I am intrigued and encouraged to keep going. Next I'll be reading all about Abigail Adams.

I am a history teacher and I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read compared to other historical tomes, but that is not to say it wasn't a fascinating glimpse into the life of Martha Washington. George is relegated to a supporting role. The author makes it clear when she is using documented information about Martha Washington, and when she is speculating about what Martha might have done, given the period in which she lived. I was OK with that: very little primary source information survives. The only difficulty I found was following the people and their relationships, even though family trees are provided. The author acknowledges that the practice of using the same names over and over within a family or social circle, and nicknames often having no connection to the person's given name, made following who's who a challenge. To her credit, the the author does her best to help the reader sort things out.

Learned a few things about Martha Washington that I did not know. Was a quick easy read just nothing remarkable

Martha was the best partly because she was the first- but she really set the best example of making the best of situations that were at times FAR from ideal.She loved her husband so much, as was so dedicated to his well-being she sacrificed her own happiness on many occasions to be with her husband- sometimes at the risk to her own health.This biography shows what Martha's daily life was like, shedding light on her life before she married George Washington, and giving depth into her character and how it determined her decisions regarding how she conducted herself as the very first First Lady. This is SO worth reading-and a great intro into Revolutionary War characters and events that created her motivations while being First Lady and how to conduct herself.Less than 300 pages, I found it woefully short, but VERY readable! If you are into the Revolution, this is a book to add to your library.

This book gives us a great look at her life, from early years, early marriage, and her devotion to her husband and the children of her relatives. Even tho she lived an easier financial life than most, there were still problems. We also had a look at her view of slavery. Her view was normal for the times, and we do not know whether she was very strict or somewhat lax. She also showed a lot of expertise in dealing with all the political visitations to her home. I saw that she was tolerant of George's committment to his country, even tho she thought the country asked too much of him. Politics have not changed throughout the ensuing years..campaigns are still rough, and opposing candidates and parties are still showing hostility toward each other, rather than doing a job that is for the best interest of the country.

Enjoyed the book immensely, and one day I will read it again. Lots of history I wasn't aware of!