Titles: Washington's Lady (Ladies of History #3)
Genre: Historical fiction & Christian Fiction
Pages: 414
First Published: Junes 2008
Where I Got It: Borrowed from Library
When a dapper, young George Washington comes into her life, Martha Custis is a young widow with two young children. Their love and loyalty toward each other—and the new nation they fight for, lasts a lifetime and is an inspiration even now, after 250 years.
I’ve always loved Martha and George, so this was a no-brainer for me to read when I stumbled upon this at the library randomly. Martha, in real life, is so strong and George is so brave. They are one of the cutest couples in History. I always felt bad they never had children together, but it was so sweet that George adopted Martha’s children from her first marriage. Cute.
Now, to this novel….this novel begins with Martha just losing her husband and her baby. Super sad. She experienced a lot of death in her youth. She only has her two kids left, but at least she is nice and wealthy. Things were super slow until George came into her life.
George was a complete gentleman, like I pictured, and they pretty much had insta-love and I am okay with that. Back then you didn’t have time to mess around. Goodness knows when you would get some disease or get killed in battle.
In real life, I adore Martha, in this book I wanted to punch her. She was selfish, petty, shallow, and weak. This is NOT the Martha I “know” and love. I get everyone has weaknesses and tries to grow from them. She is only human…totally get it. BUT she never learned from none of her mistakes…ever….ever. She was a little better near the end with the Revolution sparking up, but the first half the book she needed a good bash in the head. Martha…are you for realz? Not punishing your kid when he draws on the wall? And begin the scene:
George: WE HAVE TO PUNISH HIM!
Martha: Oh George….kids will be kids.
George: That is expensive shit lady! He needs to at least clean off the wall and apologize.
Martha: BUT BUT I CAN’T PUNISH HIM!!!!!!
George: Why?
Martha: Because he’s my baby boy and I want him to love me as much as he can! If I’m mean to him I’ll regret it FOREVER!
George: No. We are making him clean the walls.
Martha: Fine. *makes the kid apologize, but allows the kid to convince a slave to clean the wall and take the credit for it* Wow…maybe I should of listened to George, because I don’t want my kid to be a punk.
*Two minutes later*
Martha: I CAN NEVER PUNISH MY POOR INNOCENT BABIES!!! *resumes coddling and ignoring George*
GAH!
Other than Martha, the rest of the book was entertaining. I didn't realize this was a Christian Fiction until I checked on Goodreads after I was done. Which is saying a lot and that makes me happy I didn't notice. I can't stand books that are dripping with an overdose of God-ness. Also, I loved seeing a young and pre-Revolution George. I just wish Martha was the Martha I’ve read about in other books.
In the end, this was just overall okay. The version of Martha in this one bugged me. She was opposite of every other novel and story I’ve read about her and George. Simply Gah. Out of five stars, I shall unfortunately stamp this with 2 stars.