America’s First Daughter: Patsy Jefferson-Randolph

“I’m not only my father’s daughter, but also a daughter of the nation he founded. And protecting both is what I’ve always done. Sons of a revolution fight for liberty. They give blood, flesh, limbs, their very lives. But daughters . . . we sacrifice our eternal souls. From tattered flags and uniforms to friendships strained to the brink, the women of my country had always been the menders to all the things torn asunder.” – Patsy Jefferon-Randolph

I read a novel back towards the end of October called America’s First Daughter written by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. Admittedly, now that I think of it, I have not read as much historical fiction regarding the American Revolution and the early days of our country as I thought. I usually gravitate to Tudor-era, Victorian, and World War-period pieces; however, there is no doubt in my mind that Dray and Kamoie’s novel about Patsy is well worth the time. The research, writing, and effort that went into this novel are impeccable.

I’m starting today’s book review with a bold confession: this novel ripped my heart out, then stomped on it for good measure. Patsy Jefferson’s life story left me utterly wrecked! Since reading America’s First Daughter my worldview has shifted. The book left me with a deeper understanding of how people felt during the revolution and how lives were changed in a way that I have never known.

Complicated. That is the word. Thomas Jefferson as her father, the war in itself, her life in Paris, then her rollercoaster of a marriage, motherhood, poverty, the white house, and the political climate that Patsy faced left me exhausted. Complicated is the right word. I found myself reacting and feeling every moment. The writing was so poignant. I was a constant mixture of disbelief, horrified, frustrated, entertained, filled with laughter, and impressed with Patsy’s soul. There isn’t a part of her life story that didn’t fail to stir emotion.

While the novel is a bit long, as most historical fictions tend be, the time it took to read felt like nothing. The flawless pacing and flow was easy going. Readers experience the revolution and after-math through Patsy eyes in a very compelling personal narrative based off of hundreds of letters she wrote and received. The story remained captivating from start to finish. I was enthralled by every word.

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Patsy’s made me mad because of the injustice and turmoil the woman faces at every turn. She does make some regrettable choices that left me wishing she had made different ones but that was also the beauty of it. The flaws. At many points, I had to remind myself that this was based on a true person and that the author cannot change some decisions. The main one I hated was the man Patsy ultimately married. I wanted her to choose someone I thought she was much better suited for. I’m not a fan of Thomas Randolph Jr.

He simply wasn’t a good husband and father to his family, especially towards the end of his life. Thomas was a miserable soul and there was no amount of love that Patsy could have afforded him to change the toxicity that his childhood left in his mind. She married a person who would always sabotage himself in a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. There is no other way to describe that marriage.

“I now saw union between man and woman was the same as union among the states—as a series of debates and compromises that might hold it all together for a few more years, or end in a painful separation. Why was it that women were expected to restrain our every passion for the sake of propriety, but men couldn’t do it even for the sake of the women they loved?”

Patsy Randolph faced tragedy after tragedy starting in her young childhood with the death of her mother Martha Jefferson in 1782. That was the start of a long road of hardship. The most poignant aspect of this novel is the transformation you see in Patsy regarding her father, Thomas Jefferson. She starts with childhood idolization that quickly turns to disillusionment with the realization that every person is flawed, even her heroic father; however, the loyalty and duty she has for her family never falters for even a minute.

“Women have to give hard thought to the men we’ll wind up with. Make a mistake and get a drunk, a spendthrift, a cruel man. A man who won’t keep his word. … In marriage, man and woman become one, and that one is the husband.”

As the daughter of a founder and president of the U.S, Patsy should have had a life filled with all the luxury that came with being born into one of the nation’s most influential families. That is not the story I ended up reading. How wrong that assumption is!

The most notable lesson I learned from this novel is that the Jefferson family faced numerous hardships at every turn. I find that very interesting because when I think of a president, particularly one who owned a prominent plantation that included slaves, I don’t think of a struggling family. I imagine wealth, privilege, and power. Yet, it was jarring to read about the persistent domestic violence, endless debt, poverty, illness, and death that plagued the Jefferson household. The string of tragedies they endured is nothing short of shocking. 

“What’s important is that you can be a wife and mother or you can be a devoted daughter all your life. You can’t be both. Not when Thomas Jefferson is your father. You have to choose…” – Patsy Jefferson-Randolph

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Book Synopsis: In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph–a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founder and shaped an American legacy.

From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.

It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love–with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.

Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father’s reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

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