LADY WASHINGTON

by Dorothy Clarke Wilson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1984

As in Wilson's many other fictional biographies of historical and Biblical figures, this life-history of our first First Lady reflects assiduous research--but the subject is apt to fade, behind a cloudy adulation, into a grade-school stereotype. The story begins when Martha ""Patsy"" Dandridge is 15, a Virginia planter's daughter who feels like a ""wild colt"" tethered by stays and laces. But, at 18, Martha will marry her godfather, 37-year-old Daniel Parke Custis, heir to a huge fortune: he'll die after siring four children (two will die in childhood), leaving Martha a very wealthy woman indeed. Enter, then--Colonel George Washington, fresh from the French and Indian wars, Commander of the Virginia Militia. Martha is surprised by amorous flutters within: ""there was no reason for her to feel flustered, for her pulses to quicken to a strange warmth coursing suddenly through her veins. . . ."" She marries George, a paragon of heroic virtues. They settle in his beloved Mount Vernon; George is sometimes in Williamsburg, as a member of the House of Burgesses. Then there are anguished farewells and joyous reunions when George travels to the momentous congresses in Philadelphia--and is chosen to lead (as he writes) the ""army raised for the defence of the American cause. . . It has been a kind of destiny, that has thrown me upon this service."" So, in the war years, Martha will not only supervise the estate (an administrative chore of impressive demands) but also joins Washington--traveling in all weathers, cooking, sewing, entertaining officers, and organizing relief for the ragged foot soldiers. In short, she exemplifies those qualities which Abigail Adams would later celebrate: ""A most becoming pleasantness sits upon her countenance and an unaffected deportment which renders her the object of veneration and respect. . . ."" And readers not put off by the bland familiarity of this Washington-couple portrait will appreciate Wilson's exhaustive approach--with its tours of Mt. Vernon artifacts and its faithful documentation.

Pub Date: June 1, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION