"In Nelly's letters can be traced the passage of a Virginia belle of unique privilege into a mature woman who had a share of unhappiness in the premature death of her children and other family members. The letters are expressive; Nelly is forthright in her attitudes about the evils of slavery, the need for culture, the frustrations of societal expectations for women." —Publishers Weekly 

May 7, 2005
Martha Washington: An American Life
Patricia Brady. Viking, $24.95 (276p) ISBN 0-670-03430-4

The portrait of the beautiful, elegant young woman on the cover of this excellent biography will stun anyone used to seeing pictures of Martha Washington as a white-haired, matronly woman. And in a richly woven tapestry of social history and biography, historian Brady re-creates the 18th-century world of wealthy Virginia planters into which the elegant Martha, née Dandridge, was born and the “joyful duet” of her marriage to America’s first president.  | Read More »

April 1, 2005 v73 i7 p394(1)

Brady, Patricia: Martha Washington: an American Life. (Book Review)

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2005 VNU Business Media

Brady, Patricia MARTHA WASHINGTON: An American Life Viking (272 pp.) $24.95 Jun. 27, 2005 ISBN: 0-670-03430-4

In a short, admirable biography, Brady--who has edited several books about Nelly Custis Lewis, Martha Washington's granddaughter--recreates the life and loves of America's original first lady.  | Read More »

“This is a beautiful, graceful, and elegantly told love story about a passionate, strong-willed woman—our virtually unknown first First Lady—and her equally strong-willed and passionate husband, the first President of the United States. What is truly remarkable about this book is that the author has succeeded in humanizing George Washington—no easy task, let me assure you. He is not the stiff, unapproachable figure that most books depict. Here he is a loving, caring, and devoted husband of a gracious, kind, and remarkable lady. It is amazing what the author has achieved, considering that Martha Washington destroyed most of the correspondence between herself and her husband over forty-one years. But two real, believable people emerge from this book, a tribute to the skill, scholarship, and devotion poured into it by the author.”

—Robert Remini, author of Andrew Jackson and The Battle of New Orleans, winner of the National Book Award

 | Read More »

"This collection of intimate, chatty letters from Washington's adopted daughter to her lifelong friend in Philadelphia charts the narrowing compass of her life, from youthful exuberance as the darling of the president's family and a well-educated observer of public life to an embittered wife of an unambitious, aloof husband. . . . Revealing much about the daily concerns of a Southern woman over a lifetime, these letters remind us that, even as the nation was coming apart, the private worlds of women (and men) were held together by family, faith, and friendships."
—Library Journal