I, Eliza Hamilton
In 1777, Elizabeth Schuyler met the one man who’d change her life, and the fledgling nation as well. At the home of her parents—The Pastures—Eliza charms and beguiles a young Colonel Alexander Hamilton. From the moment they meet, they both know that they are destined to be with one another. Despite the demands of the Revolution swirling around them, they are able to marry, and Eliza becomes Hamilton’s confidant, his sounding board and his eternal partner. Together, they forge a love and a family all the while Hamilton is intertwined in the birth of the new nation. Eliza is a woman of her times—she is devoted and dutiful, but she becomes Hamilton’s equal in helping him shape his ideas and plans for America. She’s beside her husband despite his capricious desires and near-fanatical need to make and protect his name and reputation, and there until his fateful day on the bluffs in New Jersey.
Susan Holloway Scott sheds a different perspective on the life of Alexander Hamilton in allowing us to see one of the Founding Fathers through the eyes of his devoted wife. Eliza comes through in a strong, clear voice, but at times can become wordy, slowing down the pace. There is a bit more “telling” than “showing” throughout, but since Hamilton’s story is told from Eliza’s perspective, that’s understandable since there were many times that they were apart. If you are versed on Hamilton’s life, there isn’t much new here, but Scott’s research is thorough, and she creates a wonderful story that breathes life into Alexander and Eliza’s deep love and romance, and how Eliza was the woman beside her husband. A must-read for Hamilton fans.
