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Abigail And John LP: Portrait Of A Marriage (2009)

by Edith B. Gelles(Favorite Author)

3.96 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0061668362 (ISBN13: 9780061668364)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

HarperLuxe

review 1: While much of this book was a recapitulation for me of McCullough's fine biography of John Adams, it was well worth my reading time. Gelles used the lens of John and Abigail's marriage to examine not only their life together, but also the whole Revolutionary Era. She wisely emphasized the influence of the Adams' religious convictions, while identifying the differences in their beliefs which led to different ways of dealing with both pubic and private life. By stressing the paramount importance of duty in the values of both John and Abigail, Gelles persuades us that it is reasonable that the stress of being required to lead separate, parallel lives did not destroy their marriage or make it meaningless.
review 2: I can finally say that my second president is i... moren the books for the Presidential Challenge. This book was not easy for me to get through, but I am so glad that I did.Before I knew much about John and Abigail Adams, I knew that they sent letters to each other throughout their marriage. I immediately loved the romanticism in writing letters to your significant other. What I didn't realize was that the quantity of letters they wrote to one another was based on necessity. If they wanted to maintain their marriage while John traveled for decades during their relationship, letters were the only way for them to do so. I can't imagine living without my husband or father as much as the Adamses did and then when I think about the available outlets of communication then and now it just seems impossible. The Adams made it work though and it wasn't always easy. I really enjoyed reading about John Adams' time abroad in the Netherlands, London and Paris. I think of the amazing education and experiences his son was provided by accompanying him overseas. When Abigail and his daughter, Nabby, were finally able to join John and John Quincy in Paris, I thought it was fascinating to read Abigail's letters documenting that time. She had similar fears and anxiety in being in a foreign country that I believe are still faced by people today. I was heartbroken for John and Abigail when he did not win his second term as president. I felt as if he had given up so much of his life to see the United States as a successful country and that his time as a public official was cut short. John and Abigail Adams really have quite the history together and the thing that always held each of them together individually was each other. It was wonderful to see a couple to support each other through some of the most difficult and rewarding periods of their lives.While I found their story to be fascinating, I wasn't really a fan of the writing in this book. I found it to be repetitive and the flow between narrative and quotations from the letters didn't read smoothly at times. Even though I did not particularly enjoy the writing, I feel as if there was great quality, historical information in this book and I am happy to have some insight on our second president and first lady. less

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