lyagushka's Full Review: Lynne Withey - Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail A...
I first heard about and became interested in Lynne Withey's biography of Abigail Adams while reading David McCullough's amazing biography, John Adams. McCullough's work portrayed Abigail as an integral part of our second president's political career, and I wanted to know more about this formidable woman who had such a profound influence on the early US government. Withey's book satisfied my curiosity about Abigail Adams quite well. Having read individual biographies of both of the Adamses, I now feel that I have a good understanding of them as individuals and as political thinkers. I see Dearest Friend as an excellent complement to my reading of John Adams.
Withey takes a less adulatory approach to her subject than did McCullough, but I didn't mind this in the least. I believe that a biographer's duty is to present their subject as fully and as clearly as possible, without either judging them too harshly or concealing their faults. Few biographers manage this however. To her great credit, Withey struck this difficult balance quite well.
The life of Abigail Adams
In 1744, Abigail Smith was born the second child of a moderate Congregationalist minister, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Known as a spirited and clever child, "Nabby," as she was called by the family, was nonetheless somewhat isolated from her peers because of her father's position as a minister. For this reason, she formed especially close bonds with her sisters. Education for girls was dismally inadequate during her childhood. Abigail and her sisters were unusual in having a college-educated father with a library, and therefore their education was far more serious than that of an average girl of the time. Even so, Abigail keenly felt the disadvantage of her sex in seeking an education. As a teenager she devoted herself to a largely unguided and independent study of English literature, political thought and the French language. By the time Abigail was a wife and mother, she was one of the most well-read women in the colonies. Yet her penmanship and spelling remained irregular all her life, even by the standards of the age. The embarrassment she felt over her want of education would motivate her to agitate for the education of girls when she had the political wherewithal to do so.
The early years of her marriage were marked by long and painful separations from John while he was away on diplomatic posts in Paris and Amsterdam. For more than ten years, John was never home at Quincy for more than a few months at a time, with long intervals of years between his returns. Abigail drew on her vast reserves of patriotism and her faith to sustain her during John's absences and to bolster her patience and self-sacrifice. In all these years, Abigail shouldered the entire responsibility for running a large farm, rearing their four children and tending to her elderly and frail in-laws when they needed nursing. Even when John finally returned to the United States and settled into his domestic political career, he passed little of his time in Massachusetts. But Abigail begrudged him nothing so long as she could be with him.
What I found most interesting about Abigail Adams is that, according to Withey, she was simultaneously a fervent revolutionary and a social conservative who firmly believed in class distinctions. Abigail supported the political revolution and separation from Britain but at the same time abhorred the concept that all men were created equal. In her mind, the equality of all men would spell the end of social order, the very fabric of daily life. Some, she held, were born to rule while others were born to serve. She merely believed that the ruling class should be a meritocracy, rather than a hereditary body.
Withey also does an excellent job of illustrating Abigail's sometimes domineering and narrow-minded character. One can sense her matronly New England exasperation with inept servants and want of industry, even as one is forced to admire her shrewd political insights. She does equally well when describing the evolution of Abigail's political views, sometimes prodded by political actions of her son, John Quincy Adams. Best of all, Withey makes it obvious how the life experiences and character traits of Abigail shaped her political opinions and her reactions to political events. Even when I didn't agree with Abigail's opinions, I could see why they had merit in her own eyes.
While this book is respectably well written and quite thoroughly researched, it does not make for gripping reading. I found that I was perfectly content to set the book down for days on end. Perhaps this results from Withey's conscientious avoidance of idealizing her subject. After all, it's always more interesting to read about superhuman heroes than about real individuals with their prejudices and quirks. But Withey also refrains from dishing much of the dirt that other biographers have seen fit to include. Abigail rarely shrank from expressing her opinions to others, and I know from other books that she had some sharp exchanges by post with the likes of Thomas Jefferson. Withey chooses instead to pass over such conflicts, which might well have made for juicier reading.
Another possible reason for the book's failure to captivate might be the tone of the writing. I thought it a bit dry and reserved. Clearly, Withey knows her material, but I sensed little enthusiasm for her subject. The tone of her writing is a little flat, almost like an academic text, but with simpler, more down-to-earth writing. I found this disappointing, for it seemed to me that Abigail's life should preclude dryness in works about her.
I also found it curious that Withey makes much less of the profound relationship between John and Abigail Adams, than did McCullough. From reading John Adams, I got the impression that this couple retained a deeply romantic and loving bond through all their years together. I found this somewhat strange, because the title of Withey's book is taken from the term with which John and Abigail addressed their letters to each other during their long years apart. Each to the other was the dearest friend. Either Withey's impression of the relationship was less rosy, or she preferred to focus on Abigail's sometimes prickly personality and her political views.
A few pages of black-and-white photos and prints add a nice visual element to this biography. By a quirk of history, several excellent paintings of the members of the Adams family have survived. Together they demonstrate the strong resemblance between the children and the parents. An index and Withey's notes on her sources are also included at the end of the book.
Final Thoughts
I think this biography is a very good one as far as it goes. But I feel that it would not be sufficient, on its own, to give a reader a full picture of Abigail Adams' life. I would recommend it as a complement to other books written about Abigail and her time. For those with a specific interest in her, as opposed to her husband or son, I would consider it a must-read.
To those interested in early American history, I would also highly recommend:
• John Adams - McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of our unsung second president
• Understanding Thomas Jefferson - E.M. Halliday's unveiling of our most enigmatic president
• Patriarch - Richard Norton Smith's excellent volume on George Washington's presidency
• The First American: Benjamin Franklin - a superlative biography on America's premier elder statesman
• Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero - for those interested in reading just a bit further afield
• A Midwife's Tale - a fascinating look at life in pre-revolutionary Maine based on the journal of midwife
This is the life of Abigail Adams, wife of patriot John Adams, who became the most influential woman in Revolutionary America. Rich with excerpts from...More at Christianbook.com
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