Book Review: Keep Moving

Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity and Change, by Maggie Smith

“Accept that you do not get to choose who loves you, who keeps their promises, who forgives.  But you can choose to love, to keep your promises, to forgive.  Choose well.  Have — and live — your own say.  Keep Moving.” 

Maggie Smith experienced the crushing loss of divorce, after 20 years of marriage.  To begin healing and moving on, she told herself that everyday, she must write.  It might be nothing but a few sentences, but she wrote.  This book is a collection of the things she wrote, the things she told herself to keep moving.

Each quotation expresses the profound sorrow of loss, but also the idea of hope.  In reading them, her readers can choose which resonate the most; which quotations help them to keep moving.

“Tell yourself kinder truths.  You are not failing at life; you are reeling, sure, but you are succeeding at surviving.  Keep Moving.”

5 stars.

 

Book Review: Never Caught

Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

You probably knew that George and Martha Washington owned slaves.  But did you know that at least of one their slaves ran away and was never recaptured? That’s right, Ona Judge was a female slave owned by Martha Washington; she ran away in May 1796 and lived the rest of her life as a free woman. What is most interesting is that the Washingtons knew where she was, and even tried to get her to willingly return to slavery – she said no.

Ona Judge was by law a dower slave; she was owned by Martha Washington and her first husband; per his will, when Martha died the slaves remained a part of the estate to be divided among their heirs. So even though George Washington is not innocent in this whole story, he didn’t actually have the legal authority to free any of Martha’s dower slaves.

In the late 1700s, Philadelphia was moving toward gradual emancipation of its slaves.  They passed a law that allowed someone newly arrived in Pennsylvania to hold their slaves for a period of six months; after that they had to free them, or leave the colony.  The Washingtons knew this, so when George Washington was elected president and traveled to Philadelphia to serve, he brought several slaves with him, but concocted an elaborate plan to rotate his slaves back down to Virginia at six month intervals.  He believed that each time a slave left the Pennsylvania colony, that reset the six month period.

Ona Judge had been rotating back and forth between Philadelphia and the Washingtons’ Mount Vernon plantation in Virginia over a period of several years during his Presidency.  In 1796, Ona Judge learned she was to be a part of a wedding gift to Martha’s granddaughter, a young woman known for her fiery temper.  It is believed that this is what made her decide to run away.

Despite repeated attempts to get her back, the Washingtons never did.  The book examines the historical record, including letters, runaway advertisements, census records and two interviews that Ona Judge did late in life.  The author tells the story of Ona Judge’s life, both during her period as a slave to the Washington family, as well as her life as a free woman.

There is much that is not known, and my only frustration with the book is that author draws it out with a lot of unnecessary repetition.  It probably would have been a more concise work of non-fiction had she not speculated over and over as to the mindset and feelings of Judge and others portrayed.  But otherwise I thought it was well researched and well-written, and enjoyed learning about this fascinating woman and the little known part she played in American history.

3 stars.

Book Review: The First Conspiracy

I recently read The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, by Brad Meltzer.  I’ve only recently started reading more about the Founding Fathers, and learning more about the Revolutionary War.  Did you know that in 1776 there was a plot to assassinate George Washington?

Records are incomplete, both because of the fact that this occurred almost 250 years ago, as well as what was likely a desire to keep it quiet at the time, so as not to undermine public confidence in the Revolutionary cause.  What would happen if people found out that the Revolution’s greatest general was under threat from his own men?

The book explores the plot, the players and the investigation of the conspiracy to kill Washington, but also has a lot of great information on the climate in the United States in the early years of the revolution.  Meltzer writes about the reasons men joined the cause, and the reasons people stayed loyal to England.  It wasn’t so easy to decide where your allegiances should fall, especially considering the economic impacts of your choice.  All of that played into this plot.

The book weaves the story into an interesting narrative, culminating in the capture of those responsible and their ultimate punishment.

4 stars. 

Book Review: Death in Yellowstone

My aunt and uncle got Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park, by Lee H. Whittlesey, for me as a gift.  It’s like they know me!  They have spent a couple of summers working in the bookstore near Old Faithful, so I imagine this book was screaming out at them from the shelves until they couldn’t ignore it anymore!

First, let’s get this out of the way.  Yes, I appreciate the morbid.  It helps me cope; I get it from my mom…  But who wouldn’t want to know about all the strange and grisly ways there are to die in the nation’s first National Park?  Yellowstone was designated as a National Park on March 1, 1872, so that’s almost 150 years of opportunity to die there.  And Whittlesey has done a great job of compiling a comprehensive list of all of the deaths in the park.

There are a lot of ways to die!  He covers drownings, falling into thermals, deaths caused by horses and wagons, falls, deaths caused by wildlife, exposure, poison gases, suicides, murders and more!  Some, like deaths by wildlife, are less common than I would have guessed, with most of those being caused by grizzly bears (which is to be expected).  It also impressed upon me that you should never, ever, go roaming around Yellowstone at night, in the dark.  There are too many opportunities to fall in thermals, to fall off cliffs, to freeze to death (even if it isn’t winter), or to get eaten by a bear!  I mean I knew this already, but apparently there are people who don’t.

The writing style, leaves a bit to be desired; Whittlesey compiles information and presents it in a matter of fact manner, rather than spinning a excellent story.  At points it almost seems that bullets would be his preferred method.  That said, it is still interesting, and I enjoyed where he was able to get additional information about a victim (or a perpetrator) from the folks that knew them.

If you love our National Parks, and have a fascination with the macabre, you are sure to like this book!

3 stars.

Book Review: Mary Todd Lincoln, A Biography

I picked up Mary Todd Lincoln, A Biography, by Jean H. Baker, at the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, Kentucky, when I visited there in August 2018.  I have read a lot about Abraham Lincoln, and have learned much about Mary in the process, but I have never read anything that explores her life as her own person, separate from her relationship with our nation’s 16th President.

The book covers the entirety of Mary Todd Lincoln’s life, from her birth and upbringing in Lexington, Kentucky.  Her mother died when Mary was six, and her father remarried shortly after to Mary’s step-mother, a woman that Mary had a tumultuous relationship with.  She went to boarding school across town, and received far more education than a girl typically received at the time.  She was versed in politics and could speak eloquently on a variety of topics, in both English and French.

She was, by all accounts, a formidable force, who had strong opinions and a pushy nature.  However, it is likely that Lincoln’s rise to the Presidency was heavily influenced by his wife, her encouragement and her assistance behind the scenes.  She believed she would be the First Lady, and Mary Todd Lincoln often got what she wanted.

Her life was also overshadowed by tragedy.  She lost her mother as a child, and three of her four sons died before they reached adulthood.  And of course, you know what happened to her husband…  She grieved.  Yet she grieved in a way that the nation thought inappropriate, not becoming of a lady of her time.  She was too much to take.

Mary’s polarizing personality bought her many enemies, and those enemies have tainted the historical record.  She certainly was far from perfect, but this biography will help the reader to understand what is true and what is myth surrounding Mary Todd Lincoln.

4 stars.