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Article: Martha Washington: An American Life.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- June 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Martha Washington: An American Life. By Patricia Brady. (New York, N.Y.: Viking, 2005. Pp. 276. $24.95.)
This volume narrates the important life events of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, and sets them in the broader context of American life. The resulting story is not altogether new. "Patsy" grew up in a family only modestly positioned among Virginia's plantation elite. Nevertheless, her marriage to Daniel Parke Custis made her one of the colony's most wealthy wives and, upon his unexpected death, most attractive widows. If she enhanced her social and financial standing through marriage, so too did her second husband, George Washington. Though financial and ...