Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage

“Fascinating...Gelles has provided a balanced portrait, and her mastery of the period’s issues and history is evident on every page. Her treatment of the family... [is] written with understanding and sensitivity... But it is her strength as a feminist historian that makes her treatment of Abigail the most gripping... masterful and captivating.”
— Washington Times

“A landmark... Well-organized and expertly composed, the book is an impressive addition to the nation’s written history.”
— Oklahoma City Oklahoman

Readers who enjoyed Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time, Cokie Roberts’s Founding Mothers, and David McCullough’s John Adams will love “this eminently readable… charming and sensitive, yet candid and unflinching joint biography” (Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848) of America’s original “power couple”: Abigail and John Adams.

The story of Abigail and John Adams is as much a romance as it is a lively chapter in the early history of this country. The marriage of the second president and first lady is one of the most extraordinary examples of passion and endurance that this country has ever witnessed. And it is a drama peopled with a pantheon of eighteenth-century stars: George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, his daughter Patsy, Ben Franklin, and Mercy Otis Warren.

Abigail and John were a uniquely compatible duo, and in their remarkable union we can see the strength of a people determined to achieve full independence in the face of daunting odds. Yet while much has been written about each as an individual, Abigail and John provides, for the first time, the captivating story of their dedication and sacrifice that helped usher in the founding of our country, a time that fascinates us still.

Married in 1764 by Abigail's reverend father, the young couple worked side by side for a decade, raising a family while John's status as one of the most prosperous, respected lawyers in Massachusetts grew. As his duties within the new republic expanded, the Adamses endured a long period of sporadic separations. But their loyalty and love kept their bond firm across the distance, as is evident in their tender letters. It's in this correspondence that Abigail comes into her own as a woman of politics, offering words of advice and encouragement to a husband whose absences were crucial to the independence they both cherished. And it's also in these exchanges that they worked through the familial tragedies that tested them: the death of their son Charles from alcoholism and the impoverishment and early death of their daughter Nabby.

Through its fifty-four years, the union of John and Abigail Adams was based on mutual respect and ambition, intellect and equality, that went far beyond the conventional bond. Abigail and John is an inspirational portrait of a couple who endured the turmoil and trials of a revolution, and in so doing paved the way for the birth of a nation.

“Edith Gelles’ accomplished, engaging and wonderfully accessible Abigail and John ushers us into the intimate life of one of the most public of American couples. Gelles’ long familiarity with 18th century American history and her deep knowledge of the Adams’ story is palpable on every page.” - Susan Faludi, author of Backlash and The Terror Dream

“No one knows more about John and Abigail Adams than Edith Gelles. Now Gelles has marshaled her considerable talents as a scholar and writer to tell the spellbinding story of these two remarkable individuals. The result is not only a compelling double biography, but a page-turning account of the American Revolution and the founding of the American Republic.” - John Ferling, author of Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence and the upcoming The Ascent of George Washington

“Abigail & John is a terrific new book, rich in detail and full of insight. Gelles captures not only the emotional world of this extraordinary couple, but their material and intellectual context as well. And on every page, she reminds us why we remain captivated by them after all these years.” - Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary Mothers and Presidential Professor of History, Baruch College, CUNY.

“A dual biography spotlighting one of the most remarkable partnerships in American history…. A moving picture of a marriage whose terms required constant renegotiation as events forced each partner to assume or relinquish tasks commonly ascribed to the other sex. From Braintree to Boston, Paris to London, Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., . . . the Adams’s story is one of politics interwoven with family life. Gelles pushes their marriage and family life vividly to the fore. She examines the couples’ shared sorrows . . . as well as the many triumphs that would have been impossible, but for Abigail’s wise management of her household and solicitous care for her brilliant, deeply insecure husband. A revealing exploration of an exceptional marriage marked by mutual understanding, empathy and deep love.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Edith Gelles has given us a portrait of the marriage of John and Abigail Adams of great subtlety and depth. The story she tells is of an extraordinary couple whose marriage grew in understanding and affection in a time of immense change and tension. Her perspective, which emphasizes how the private lives of John and Abigail affected their responses to public events, is a departure from conventional interpretation that usually describes how public events shaped the private world of the two Adamses. Above all, Gelles reconstructs their story in prose that is always lucid and frequently moving. This is a book of great power and interest.” - Robert Middlekauff, author of The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789

“Abigail & John is an engaging story of the progress and ultimate success of the Adamses’ marriage through war and revolution, diplomatic and political adventures, family traumas and lengthy separations. Their revealing and provocative letters demonstrate a strong partnership of equals-in the eighteenth century sense-and give us a love story for the ages.” - Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor, editors, My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams