I have a goal now of reading and reviewing at least one book a month that is not from the fantasy or sci-fi genres. Since Hamilton is a craze right now I’ve more or less haven’t been part of, I thought “why not?”
The Summary
This story is a coming of age story for Peggy Schuyler during the Revolutionary War era. The title is a bit misleading, however. Hamilton is not all that important to the book, but I was okay with that.
The Analysis
Negative stuff out of the way first. In all honesty, this book was a bit dull and definitely too long. I guess the fact that Hamilton only figures into half the book is also a disappointment in expectation, though I (as I’ll discuss below) was okay that he wasn’t there.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I’ll get into the stuff that left me with a more positive feeling.
I appreciated the historical tie ins with the letters threaded throughout the story. Any story about real historical figures is going to have research behind it, but not all those books will actually show the research.
The real draw of the story, however, is the titular heroine. Peggy was a delight. She’s a young female far ahead of her time, more interested in contributing to the war cause than learning to be a housewife. Amidst home troubles and close-to-home accusations of betrayal, Peggy finds a way to balance her wants against what is expected of her. And though it is not a central plot, there is a smidge of romance for her near the end.
It wasn’t my usual read by any means, but it was a nice palate cleanser from what I usually read. If you like spunky heroines, Revolutionary era fiction or Hamilton stories that don’t actually focus on Hamilton, this book is a good pick, even if a bit slow. So yes, in the end, I do recommend it.
