Martha Washington

With this revelatory and painstakingly researched book, Martha Washington, the invisible woman of American history, at last gets the biography she deserves.

In place of the domestic frump of popular imagination, Patricia Brady resurrects the wealthy, attractive, and vivacious young widow who captivated the youthful George Washington. Here are the able landowner, the indomitable patriot (who faithfully joined her husband each winter at Valley Forge), and the shrewd diplomat and emotional mainstay. And even as it brings Martha Washington into sharper and more accurate focus, this sterling life sheds light on her marriage, her society, and the precedents she established for future First Ladies.Martha WashingtonPrologue: On the Road to History
One: Little Patsy Dandridge
Two: Courtship
Three: Young Mrs. Custis
Four: The Widow Custis and Colonel Washington
Five: Gentry Life at Mount Vernon
Six: Lady Washington and the American Revolution
Seven: Valley Forge and Eventual Victory
Eight: Mount Vernon and a New Family
Nine: The President's Lady
Ten: The Torments of the Second Term
Eleven: "Under Their Vine and Under Their Fig Tree"
Twelve: The Widow Washington
Epilogue: The Real Martha Washington

Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Patricia Brady has a Ph.D. in history from Tulane University and served for twenty years as director of publications at the Historic New Orleans Collection. Her previous books include George Washington's Beautiful Nell. She is the recipient of a Mellon fellowship.