This book was just what was needed to pull me out of a reading slump. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts is an account of the women who supported and helped shape the development of the democratic government in the United States. While I initially thought that this would yield minimal new information considering how heavily this period of time was covered during my schooldays I discovered just how wrong (and ignorant) I was especially in regards to the women. I realized that it had never occurred to me to wonder just how long the absences of these women's husbands were during the creation of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution (including the Articles of the Confederation), and the U.S. government as a whole. Not to mention how absolutely strong-willed and informed these women were about the affairs of state (which was beneficial as they passed on the latest news to their husbands through extensive letter writing). Best couple award goes to George and Martha Washington who were the most well-adjusted and steadfast couple of the lot. Martha went everywhere George went including Valley Forge where she was instrumental in keeping the morale of the men up (and getting them to stay at all) as well as organizing other women into organized sewing groups to keep the troops clothed. Favorite woman of the many discussed was hands down Abigail Adams who not only had the keenest mind but also the sharpest tongue. She had no problem telling John where to go and letting him know that just because he was away didn't mean that the romance in their relationship needed to suffer. In fact, theirs was the most strained relationship of all as John was in high demand and for the majority of their marriage they were separated as he worked tirelessly in his work as a member of the Continental Congress and then later as the Vice President. If you, like me, love reading about confident women and relish learning new things about a slice of history you thought you had thoroughly mapped then I must point you in the direction of Founding Mothers. 10/10

PS Benjamin Franklin was the worst.

What's Up Next: Mary B. by Katherine J. Chen

What I'm Currently Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

So I had a bunch of highlights made in the e-book, then I synced my Kindle by accident and lost the book because my loan period from the library had expired. Sigh...

Anyway, this was a great book, although it backtracked a couple times to explain events from a new perspective and I found it confusing until I remembered who it was talking about. As evidenced by the title, the book focuses on women who were in and out of D.C. during the period before, during, and after the Civil War.

Let it not be said that women didn't have an influence on American politics in the past; it actually reminds me of a discussion point raised with a friend about A Song of Ice and Fire series (and/or Game of Thrones) characters Cersei Lannister and Margaery Tyrell - a woman who tries to achieve power through masculine actions, as a woman, and is reviled, versus a woman who achieves power through feminine actions, and is publicly adored.

Although there's no throne in the U.S., there is certainly a White House and various other political aims to be won. A number of women profiled in the book were successful in their goals. Some weren't. The epilogues were interesting in how they revealed how the public remembered these women several decades later and were a good contrast point to how they are viewed now; that is, who even knows about them except people like me who have read a book like this?

I was excited to read this book which promised to be an exploration of the history of marriage in America, interspersed with stories from Cokie and Steve Roberts's own long marriage. Still, rather than successfully integrating research, fact, and memory the way the best memoirs do, this book felt as though it were actually two different books that just happened to share the same space, and moving between the two was jarring. The sections about Cokie and Steve, while containing a few interesting anecdotes and reflections on the changes they saw in their own marriage, reeked of unexamined privilege (they assume their kids will go to Ivy League schools, mention that 700 people came to their daughter's wedding, and namedrop all the important correspondents, politicians, etc., they hobnob with). They were also basically just edited transcripts of Cokie and Steve talking about marriage, which was less moving to me than it would have been to read some more reflective writing that came from them directly; although this probably gave a better feel for the "dynamic" of their relationship, since you saw the back and forth of the conversation. Still, I was interested in a narrative, not an interview.

Cokie and Steve are both smart people and competent journalists, and while there's nothing really wrong with the writing here, it's less engaging than it could be. The historical sections are overwhelming with long paragraphs and too many names to keep track of, although, like the transcripts, they contain moments of higher interest.

Still, not one of the strongest marriage books I've read, nor as compelling as I would have liked it to be to help me forget I was 36,000 feet in the air (I read over half the book on my trip to Puerto Rico.)