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| Image: Random House |
Teen Tuesday features Love & War by Melissa de la Cruz. The Revolutionary War separated Alex and Eliza early on in their marriage. Alex yearned to lead troops in battle, General Washington was reluctant. Eliza lived in Albany with her family. Once the war was over, the Hamiltons moved to Manhattan so that he could set up a law practice.
The author does a great job evoking post-war Manhattan and the various stresses the young couple encounter financially and personally as well as the frustrating rules of class and roles of women. While historical fiction should never be read as fact and authors are pretty free to play fast and loose with them, I didn't understand why the choice was made to keep the couple childless for the book. As I listened, I kept wondering why Eliza wasn't pregnant. Then the author note explained that this was a conscious choice but not why.
When I bought the first book, which I enjoyed enough to read the second, I thought my students would be all over it thanks to the musical. It has been checked out only once and the student was unenthusiastic about it when she returned it. I was sort of sad by this. I will continue on to the final volume of the trilogy purely out of curiosity.
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