Recently I watched a documentary about Alexander Hamilton, learning about his contribution to our country and the tragic death of his son, as well as his own untimely death. When I noticed the book, My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, at the library, I picked it up.
It is a long read, covering the years of the American Revolution through 1848. The turbulent years following the revolution are clearly presented. There was political maneuvering between the men that favored a strong federal government and men that favored states’ rights. A thread throughout the book points to the flaws in all men.
Throughout the novel we see events that took place through Eliza’s eyes. She suffered from her husband’s bad decisions, but she was determined that the work he did for the establishment of the United States be honored. Alexander Hamilton participated in writing President George Washington’s farewell speech. This portion is quoted in the book.
Properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest.
The book was thought provoking and led me to think about the divisive time we are in now.
A dear friend, who exchanges books with me, sent me a book about the Finnish territory of Karelia. Venture at Midsummer by Eva-Lis Wuorio was published in 1967. After WWII, the area of Finland that was known as Karelia was ceded to Russia.
In this novel a group of teenagers set out to cross the border between Russia and Finland. Their goal is to return to the former home of a Finnish man to retrieve research materials. I enjoyed the description of Finland and Karelia. It reminded me of my ancestors.
Great-grandparents on my father’s side immigrated from Finland to America. My great-grandfather grew up in Karelia, the territory given to Russia following WWII. His brother came also, but we have lost connection to relatives that remained.
Initially Jeremiah worked in the copper mines, but he seized the opportunity to homestead in Northern Michigan. His goal was to establish a subsistence farm, perhaps similar to what he had known in Finland.
Linking with Share Your Shelf and also Bookish Bliss Musings & More .
Those sound so interesting!