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Fiction. Literature. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML:She had the president�??s ear and the nation�??s heart. She�??s the wife of the fourth president of the United States; a spirited charmer who adores parties, the latest French fashions, and the tender, brilliant man who is her husband. But while many love her, few suspect how complex Dolley Madison really is. Only in the pages of her diary�??as imagined by novelist Rita Mae Brown�??can Dolley fully reveal herself. And there we discover the real first lady�??impulsive, courageous, and wise�??as she faces her harshest trial: in 1814, the United States is once more at war with mighty Britain, and her beloved James is the most hated man in America. From the White House receptions she gaily presides over to her wild escape from a Washington under siege, Dolley gives us a legend, made warmly human. For there has never been a first lady so tested�??or one who came through… (more)
User reviews
Brown keeps emphasizing that Dolley was very opposed to slavery, and that Madison only kept his slaves out of respect for his mother's wishes. In The Invisibles by Jesse J. Holland, there is a very different view of her treatment of slaves, particularly as the Madisons's finances declined, largely due to their indulgence of Dolley's son, Payne Todd, from her first marriage (and he was a Pain). Dolley and Payne began selling them off, in defiance of her husband's will. Let's say that Dolley had great virtues, which Brown praises, and some serious faults, to which Brown pays much less attention.
It did inspire me to visit Montpelior (which I highly recommend), and to buy the Dolley Madison coin that was issued to help pay for its restoration.