I, Eliza Hamilton

Starred review from August 28, 2017
Scott (The Countess and the King) stands to capitalize on the popularity of the Broadway hit Hamilton with this story of the founding father’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, who proves not only a passionate guardian of her husband’s home and children, but a protector of his legacy. “Love is not easy with a man chosen by Fate for greatness,” Eliza writes at the opening of this novel, and Scott expertly handles the complex history and complicated romance, moving the personal and political plots briskly. The story follows Eliza’s head-over-heels love of the ambitious, gifted Alexander, through a marriage tested by his boundless energy and attraction to beautiful women, including Eliza’s talented and vivacious sister, Angelica; the grueling fight between the well-equipped British and ragtag Continental armies; the foundering Federalist union; and, finally, the emergence of a new nation after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. “I will see that he receives all the honor that is his due, and that he will always be remembered by the country he loved and served so well,” Eliza writes five years after Alexander was killed in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr. Readers will be captivated by the affecting portrait Scott has painted of Eliza as an American patriot who was witness and counsel to Alexander’s enduring legacy and a heroine tested by his romantic recklessness. “What you dismiss as gallantry might be perceived as more by others.... Think of how openly he flirts even with me,” Angelica warns Eliza. Yet Eliza acknowledges only the “true and lasting brilliance” of a husband who saw his own valor mirrored in her. “You crave liberty and have no more patience with injustice or tyranny than I,” he tells her, even as she realizes “that these dreams and glories exact a terrible price.”

In this thoughtful in-depth audiobook, Eliza Hamilton recounts her life as she first meets Colonel Alexander Hamilton; becomes his wife; stands by his side during glory, scandal, and controversy; and watches him die. Narrator Saskia Maarleveld reads the account with a quiet dignity perfectly suited to Eliza's strong character. Maarleveld's engaged narration will sweep the listener back to the turbulent beginnings of our nation. Her pacing is calm, and her voice subdued, yet she never allows the accurate historical details to become dry. The story of Hamilton is becoming well known, and this fresh feminine perspective adds to the intrigue of one of our Founding Fathers. M.M.G. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine