Reese Witherspoon is celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday with a new book club pick that brings readers back to the 18th century.
The actor selected Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie’s A Founding Mother as the July pick for Reese’s Book Club. The novel, published in May by William Morrow, tells the story of Abigail Adams, the wife and advisor of founding father John Adams. It’s the third historical novel co-authored by Dray and Kamoie, following America’s First Daughter and My Dear Hamilton; the pair also teamed with Kate Quinn, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and E. Knight to write the historical novel Ribbons of Scarlet.
Witherspoon announced the book’s selection on Instagram, writing, “Celebrating America’s 250th with a story about one remarkable woman.” In another Instagram post, Dray and Kamoie appear in a video in which Kamoie explains, “This is the story of Abigail Adams, our most iconic first lady. Abigail Adams was far ahead of her time. She was an advocate for women’s rights. She opposed slavery. She was an entrepreneur and a world traveler, and a woman with a rare sense of self-possession, and who speaks to us about what it means to be an American.”
Dray adds, “This book is going to surprise and entertain you. It’s going to give you some new ways of looking at motherhood, marriage, and financial independence. And we hope that you’ll come away from this book as inspired by Abigail as we were.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
