Sally GunningRezensionen

FInely tuned phrasing and interesting characters. How curious that Franklin's son, sired a child out of wedlock and essentially followed in his father's footsteps. Great idea this author had, to take well known characters and explore this aspect.

An excellent story, well told.

Very good historical fiction. Kept my interest from the very first page and I could not put it down. At the end of the book the author explains the details of his research and how mnuch of the book was fact and how much was fiction. Also goes into detail about the final years of Benjamin Franklin after the book finishes.

Gratifying read!

I was somewhat tentative about Ida Pease’s story at the start. By the time I reached the last page I was utterly enthralled, at moments aghast, although rarely relieved.
Set in Martha’s Vineyard in the early twentieth century, Ida is a gifted portrait painter who before her forlorn marriage had gained a place at the Museum of Fine Arts School, Boston. Ida’s painting time slides away after she marries Ezra. During her marriage she’s devolved into a much put upon wife, a sheep farmer and unpaid worker, an unappreciated daughter-in-law, and finally a widow. Widowhood brings about both ownership rights problems and economic struggles. Ida discovers the scam artist her dead husband was. Her mother-in-law is a rigid tyrant. Idea grows into herself, a woman who seeks to find her voice in a society against women’s rights, and a cyclist—a gift bringing newly appreciated freedom, which includes a repositioned passion for painting.
As Ida slowly uncovers the degree of deceptiveness practised by her husband and his partner Mose Barstow, she comes into contact with Mose’s brother Henry. They work on unravelling both estates. Again more shocks! It’s Henry who introduces Ida to bicycles. Despite his assistance it’s up to Ida to make her own way as she wades through a mountain of deception, of opportunity and rejection.
Ida swirls. She’s coherent and incoherent. Sure of herself and then awkward. Too willing to appease others, scared to trust herself and closed off. Watching Ida grow is both exhausting and exhilarating. Her struggles giveaway to self awareness and renewed directions. There’s pathos and lost moments, alongside enlightening and delightful vignettes. A surprisingly satisfying dénouement.

A William Morrow and Custom House ARC via NetGalley

Starts out really slow, picked up briefly, and then surprised me completely and got genuinely interesting. For the first three-quarters of the book, I was sure it barely merited 3 stars.

I should have like this more, but for some reason the characters did not become alive to me. Set at the turn of the century, Ida Russell has found herself in a loveless marriage living on Martha's Vineyard. She has studied painting before marriage and would love to continue with her art work, but is stuck on a sheep farm that belongs to her husband's family. Her husband and his friend have disappeared in what seems to be a ship wreck and the farm ownership has been taken over by his mean spirited aunt and her daughter.

One of the more interesting parts of the story is the background of women's suffrage that is beginning to have an effect on the women. I'm surprised there aren't more stories written about the struggle women had dealing with this issue - not the leaders but the everyday women who had to stand up against family.

The story has a mystery to it when Ida finds gold hidden in the closet. Really, it is a pretty good read.

A great read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction. The novel is a fascinating look into the personal life of Benjamin Franklin as told through the voices of his illegitimate son William, his common law wife, Deborah, and mistress and mother of William, Anne.

A great imagining of Franklin's relationships with his wife, with a lover and and with his illegitimate son.

I didn't read the first book but this sequel was enjoyable as a stand-alone. I actually liked the first half of the book better than the second. It was an interesting look at a subject I didn't know much about, white slavery in the 1700's.

I really like this book, in spite of the fact that it's set in a fishing town . It is written in close third -person, and is very well written, and very reminiscent of book I just finished reading the Innkeeper of Ivy Hill , by Julie Klassen.

I like Sally Gunning's writing style. She has a way of describing the area and making Satucket a likeable character.

While she was in Boston during the "bloody massacre" Gunning describes it in such a way that it brings the reader right along for a walk, seeing the little brats harass the soldier(s) and then....

I'd recommend the book. It's a quick, good read. But if you read this one, you need to read Bound and The Widow's War as well. =)

I read this book for my book club. It was from a few months ago and I just finished it. I had trouble getting into the story. I felt the story moved slow at first.

I enjoyed the main female character. She was a strong independent woman who became a widow and still wanted to live in her home during an age when women had no rights. That I enjoyed about the book. To realize how far we have come as women and yet men will still try to hold us back or down.

I enjoyed this historical novel; it is well researched, and compelling. The back of the book includes both historical notes and bibliographical notes.½

Seem to have overlooked this; adding it in 2017. Good read, as I recall.½

The second in the Satucket series has as its focus Alice, a young Londoner who is bound over to indentured servitude by her father when the rest of her family dies during a disastrous transatlantic voyage. At first she is well treated and even beloved by her new family, but circumstances cause her to flee when she is only 15. Those who are so bound and escape are fugitives, and if caught, years are added to their tenure. Alice again takes to the sea and ends up in Satucket with the widow Berry (the hero of the first novel in the series, The Widow's War). The framework is pre-Revolutionary times, and the ties between Alice, the widow, and lawyer Freeman are taut and fraught. There are two trials and much insight into the immature mind of Alice, and how her troubling decisions make her life worse, in which she's not too different from a modern day teenage girl. Again, there's a very strong feminist viewpoint which was surely not prevalent in the Colonies at the time. Another substantial read, highly recommended.½

Who knew? We have barely been taught anything about Crispus Attucks, a black man slain in the Boston Massacre, and now there's the hero Jane Whitehouse, herein known as Jane Clarke. Gunning is a genius at combining historical themes with modern sensibilities, and this is a suspenseful tale of the events leading up to the American Revolution. Jane is a native of Satucket (Brewster) on Cape Cod, the prized daughter of a mill owner who lives to please her father. And then, as a consequence of spurning a suitor her father favors for his potential role in his financial schemes, Jane is banished to Boston at the height of the redcoat occupation. Jane meets such towering colonials as Sam, Abigail, and John Adams, Henry Knox, and the tragic figure of James Otis, beaten so badly by British soldiers that he loses his mind. As she tries to find her place in the world without her family, Jane makes many difficult decisions and plays a critical role in the Boston Massacre trial. Such a stirring historical novel, with distinct feminist overtones.

Quotes: "She made her way over the gunwale with the assistance of a few well-placed and misplaced hands."

"Was this what gave her such an unfettered voice in that marriage? Perhaps part must come from a husband strong enough in himself to greet such life without attempting to beat it down, to silence it."

Monticello : A Daughter and Her Father by Sally Cabot Gunning is a novel about Martha Jefferson Randolph, daughter of one of America’s founding fathers and its third president Thomas Jefferson. This is Mrs. Gunning’s fourth historical novel.

There were several reasons I wanted to read Monticello : A Daughter and Her Father by Sally Cabot Gunning, I like to read good historical novels, I have been to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and we are going there again this summer. So besides reading books about the building and the man who built it, a little historical fiction could go a long way in knowledge and especially understanding.

On our first, and only for now, trip to Monticello we were impressed by the ingenuity of Thomas Jefferson’s inventions, the magnificent architectural details, the gardens and even fences. What impressed me the most, however, were the stables for the guests – how they are hidden underneath the mention but easy to access.

We even bought our daughter a book, Thomas Jefferson’s Feast by Frank Murphy, which introduced children to the famous men in a few easy pages, which tell of how Mr. Jefferson introduced such treats as French Fries and tomatoes (considered poisonous) to the American public. Later we found out there were some controversies with the book, but there always are. The book talked about one aspect of Monticello, the dumb waiter, which the kids looked forward to seeing the whole tour and were very excited to finally see it (even though it was misrepresented in the story, since it only took up wine).

But getting back to this novel, it was an interesting read and I learned a lot about Martha Jefferson Randolph. Surprisingly, I read a lot about the American Revolution and Thomas Jefferson and while I remember Martha’s name coming up here and there, she really didn’t play a big role in any of the books. Maybe because she spent very little time with her famous father, either stuck in a European convent or running his estate while he was busy being… well… Thomas Jefferson.

Monticello is a well written and meticulously researched book told from the point of view on Martha. Much of the book’s running theme is Martha’s views of slavery, she abhors the institution but practices it. Martha thinks she can fix the world at first, simply “free the slaves” but the reality of Virginia gentleman farmers, views and family (both hers and the slaves) make it almost impossible and towards the end she has to make some tough choices.
And she also bore 12 children, 11 of whom survived.

Martha married a difficult man, Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (Tom) who kept trying to prove himself and get out of the shadows of his famous family (Virginia aristocrats) and his famous father in law. Tom has been dealt a bad hand financially and did not have the mindset to deal with it, despite excellent familial connections and workable debts inherited from his father. Like Martha, Tom seemed unable to make tough decisions.

The book, while expertly written, was difficult for me to read. The novel is full of information on every page, almost like a history book which takes longer to digest. I also expected the estate, Monticello, to be its own character and while the author made an effort to do so, to me it seemed she fail short.

The novel is a genuinely good historical fiction, I wish more novels were written in such style and accuracy. The story is fascinating and best of all, I learned many new things and tidbits about a woman who led a difficult, yet fascinating, life.

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Monticello, the estate plays as large a role in this novel as does Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson. The book ostensibly belongs to Martha – it is her story of love, frustration and duty.

When the book opens the Jeffersons are returning from France to return to their beloved home of Monticello. But after the sophistication of Europe does it look a little….shabby? It matters little to Martha as she has always found comfort there. Her only troubles come from the owning of slaves; she is not happy about it and while in France her father had discussed with her the possibility of freeing those that they had but once home the economics of running the plantation would not allow for it.

Soon life settles back into a rhythm and a young man comes calling. He, too wishes that slaves were not necessary and as their courtship progresses they talk of living on a small place where they could run it without the labor of slaves. Thomas Mann Randolph soon marries Martha and his troublesome father gifts him a plantation in an area that Martha finds unpleasant but she moves and works as hard as she can to make it work. But as she gets close to delivering with each of her children she returns to her beloved Monticello for delivery.

Martha’s life is closely bound to her father’s as he becomes Vice President, then President. She cared for him closely an also helped him at times at the White House being a de facto First Lady. She did this while also managing a household and bearing 12 children. Monticello was always her place of refuge.

As I noted the plantation plays as much of a role as any living person. It’s a vital presence in the book and Ms. Cabot depicts it in a very loving way. She does not spare her characters from their flaws – I must admit that Martha is not at likable nor at times is Mr. Jefferson. Don’t even get me started on Mr. Randolph. I really need to further learn about him to see if he was as much of a waste as he was depicted. Poor Martha….in having to deal with him was the only time I had any sympathy for her.

The book is well researched and I found it very interesting. American history is not my strong suit and I did learn a little about Martha in a previous read so she wasn’t totally unknown to me. I did learn far more about Mr. Jefferson and his beautiful home. It’s certainly a book worth reading and an interesting look at a founding father who was uncomfortable with slavery while sleeping with the help.

Following the tragic loss at sea of her whaling husband, Lyddie's daily life in 18th century Cape Cod becomes a trial as she struggles to come to terms with her "widow's third" and her loss of independence in the home of her only daughter's unsympathetic family. Gunning weaves a provocative and powerful story of the hardships of women often viewed simply as another possession to their husbands. Exhaustively researched, Lyddie's story offers a glimpse into the lives of early America's widows, an aspect of history commonly overlooked, as she struggles for her freedom from the societal constraints of her small village and another chance at life and love.

Just returned from Paris, Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha is on the brink of womanhood. Clever and refined, she knows little about running a household, but is highly qualified to be the wife and companion of a gentleman. When she is swept off her feet by her handsome cousin Thomas Randolph, Martha must decide if she is ready to leave Monticello, her father's beautiful home. Throughout her married life, Martha frequently returns to Monticello, but as time goes by she must accept the fact that her father has stopped fighting for the cause of abolition -- and she also must grapple with the ramifications of her father's relationship with his slave Sally Hemings.

I found this an engaging and fascinating look at Martha Jefferson Randolph's life. Though the book is subtitled "A Daughter and Her Father," the book is about all of Martha's relationships, including her relationship with Monticello itself. Of course, her relationship with her father is one of the most significant of her life. Readers who enjoy thoughtful historical fiction about real people in American history will find this read rewarding.

No one can ever recount with certainty the conversations and events that transpired within Thomas Jefferson's sphere of influence at his famous Virginia plantation, Monticello. However, because of his status as, arguably, the most famous of the nation's founding fathers, the particulars of his business dealings, his ownership of enslaved people, and other financial matters are as well known today as they were in his own time. Also well-documented are his periods of travel to/from Monticello and the important life events (births, deaths, marriages, etc.) of his legal family members.

Armed with this information, Sally Cabot Gunning has crafted a thoughtful piece of historical fiction that explores the relationships of Martha Jefferson, the former President's eldest child, with her father, her siblings, her large family through marriage, and the people enslaved by her family—particularly Sally Hemmings.

The story unfolds in three parts, arranged by date and the plantation at which Martha lived. It begins with the years 1789-1800, and her residence at the Varina planation with her husband Thomas Randolph, whom she married shortly after returning from France.

"Martha had decried the decadence and filth of Paris to Tom Randolph, but in truth, there was something as decadent about Monticello, although in a different way—the slower pace of life, perhaps, or the way her father's French wines and more elaborate French furniture, just now beginning to arrive from France, seemed out of place. And then Negroes. They crept about in an unnerving, pantherlike silence that Martha hadn't noticed before she left for France. What did they hear as they moved about? And why hadn't Martha ever before wondered about that? Martha puzzled over what seemed such a great change, either in her or in life at Monticello, she truly didn't know which. She asked Maria, pointing as Sallys' sister Critta whispered out of the room after stirring up the fire, "Were they always so quiet?""
(from page 20)

This finely crafted work of historical fiction gently forces the reader to view history through a variety of lenses, none of which are rose-colored. Wishing for an end to the family's dependence on slavery, Martha nevertheless becomes embroiled in a lifelong conflicted existence - constrained to the restrictions and social mores of a Virginia planter's wife and daughter of a President, which render her often helpless yet still complicit in her family's continued connection to enslaved people. The political upheavals of the new nation provides the backdrop of the story, but politics is not the story. This is a story of a woman's struggle to be a good wife, to be a good mother, to honor her father, and to help shape his legacy.

My copy of this books was an Advance Reader Copy provided by the publisher.

See all of my reviews at http://shelf-employed.blogspot.com

An informative and compelling look at the life of Martha Jefferson. She is devoted to her father but, this novel really isn't about Thomas Jefferson. It begins with their return from living in France where Jefferson was one of the ambassadors. They return to Monticello and attempt to start their lives again the home that Jefferson loves. There are crops to plant, books to read, and other things to keep them both busy. Martha has taken over the role that her late mother fulfilled, mistress of the house. One thing that her mother didn't have to deal with, however, was Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings.

It's a complex look at the necessary wickedness of slavery - these plantations could not survive without them, yet, at least at Monticello, the Jeffersons longed to give them their freedom. Martha is caught between several heartbreaking situations; she loves one man and is married to another who is slipping away into a fierce madness, she is jealous of the attention her father gives to Sally but only wants him to be happy, and she cannot convince her father to help end slavery knowing that his beloved Monticello would suffer.

The research done by the author is evident and makes for a fascinating look at one of the first families. Highly recommended for historical fiction fans and American history buffs.

Poor Martha Jefferson. That was my initial response to finishing this book: Poor Martha. This book tells the story of the life of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the US (after being vice president and ambassador to France, all jobs that took him away from his beloved Monticello plantation in Virginia), by way of his daughter, Martha. Her story starts out depressing and ends even more depressing, as first her mother dies and her life is uprooted as she is packed up and taken to France with her family only to fall in love with the wrong man (or is he? No spoilers here, but surely I'm not the only one to wonder, after finishing this book, if perhaps her whole life hinged on the moment she left William Short in France?), and then she marries too quickly (and the wrong man, at that) and her whole life goes downhill. The backdrop of Monticello, built and maintained on the backs of slaves (even as Martha, her husband Tom, and her father all discuss the ways to end slavery), is beautiful in description, though by the end of the novel it is obvious that the plantation itself has been their downfall. I loved that the story stays true to history, right down to the minute Jefferson died, and yet brought it to life in a way that was both imaginative and truthfully descriptive. For anyone interested in plantation life, early American history, or just seeing a different side of a President so oft-written about from a political point of view, this book is for you.

Interesting novel about an 18th century widow who tries to maintain some independence of thought and action, after the death of her seaman captain husband of 20 years. She fights against the strictures on women of her day and against her overbearing son-in-law. Her main ally is a lawyer. Much food for thought here; wow, I'm glad I live in this day and age!

*I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*

This is the second novel about Martha Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, I read this year and unfortunately this one doesn't quite measure up to the scope and detail of America's First Daughter. On the other hand, Sally Cabot Gunning does provide a sympathetic look at the world of early nineteenth-century Virginia farmers, with their constant debt, conflicted consciences over slavery, and the undercurrents beneath their polite society. A good novelization of a fascinating life.