We have been listening to this wonderful recounting of the marriage of John and Abigail Adams on audio. Fortunately, both my husband and I enjoy history, otherwise we would never have made it through more than half the book during 2 five hour drives (to visit a friend in the Finger Lakes region of New York State and back). We did intersperse our listening with conversation, meals, Zac Brown, and Jason Castro, which helped! I plan to finish off reading the print version of the book.
Ellis based most of this in-depth investigation of the Adams marriage and family life on correspondence between the couple, filling in with information gleaned from other writers (like Thomas Jefferson), historical records, and other sources. Neither John nor Abigail were considered especially attractive, but they fell passionately in love and married in 1764, when Abigail was 19 and John just shy of his 29th birthday. Their union was a true partnership, personally and politically, and they were best friends as well as lovers. Their marriage produced 6 children of whom only one, John Quincy Adams, achieved true happiness and success. Daughter Abigail (Nabby) made difficult marriage and died of breast cancer at age 48, Thomas and Charles died of alcohol-related problems, Susanna succumbed to a childhood illness, and Elizabeth was stillborn.
First Family holds a wealth of fascinating insights into the Adams' marriage and family life during their 54 years of marriage. Did you know that John Adams' mood swings may have been attributable to a thyroid condition, that Abigail nearly fell in love with another man during one of John's long political stints away from home, or that son Charles was assumed drowned when the ship he was scheduled to sail on from England was lost during the journey from England to America? Abigail only discovered that he was alive, having taken a different ship, months later when he showed up unannounced at the family home in Massachusetts!
It's hard to imagine in these modern times of email, Skype, and video chat that a couple could spend months and years apart, or away from their children, with only occasional letters to sustain the relationships. The Adams left a valuable legacy of correspondence that makes me wonder about the possibility of future research into the lives of today's leaders. Will biographers of the Obama's and Bill Gates have access to their personal thoughts and emotions or will they have to rely on hearsay, historical records, and old issues of People Weekly?
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