Review: My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

If you haven’t heard me talk about it enough, one of my favorite books of 2016 was America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. It tells the story, through a historical fiction lens, of Martha “Patsy” Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. 

When I saw that Dray and Kamoie had teamed up again for My Dear Hamilton, the story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, I knew I had to read it. There is very little known about Eliza Hamilton and I was extremely interested to read their take on her. While I didn’t fly through this book, I did finish its 600+ pages quickly in comparison because I was so enthralled with Eliza’s story. 

Eliza was a brilliant woman, a quiet and uncredited political advisor to her husband who withstood the nation’s first sex scandal and extreme disrespect from the man she fell in love with. Alexander may have been brilliant, but he wasn’t a good man in my opinion. 

If you’ve seen the musical or listened to the music, you'll know of the song “Burn,” brilliantly sung and acted by the original Eliza, Phillipa Soo. That is the Eliza I wanted to see in this novel—and that is what we got. 

I admire that woman more and more the more I learn about her. She didn’t let Alexander walk all over her. The line in the song, “I’m erasing myself from the narrative; let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart” has always hit me in the feels. And Dray and Kamoie painted a beautiful picture. 

If you love historical fiction and especially the American Revolution, I think you will love this book. Plus it has a lot of fun New York history and as a New Yorker, I loved it! 

4/5 stars for me! 

Photo by Noelle Fair Photography