Back in 2013, I reviewed Barbara Hambly’s novel “Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers.” In the story, it alternated between Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison…and Sally Hemings. It is a historical romance and this is what I wrote in regards to the Sally/Thomas Jefferson romance:
The place where Ms. Hambly took the most artistic license was with Sally Hemings. As Ms. Hambly notes, we don’t know much about her relationship with Thomas Jefferson. So she had to imagine it. And I think she did a good job. We see Sally go from young romantic girl to a woman making the best of her situation, which is loving a man who society won’t let love her back. And who doesn’t realize how unfair it is for her.
Yeah, I cringed when I went back to reread that review. 2013 me certainly had a lot to learn…or rather a lot to finally come to terms with. 2020 me probably still has just as much to learn and to reconcile as well, so I’m trying to be forgiving to 2013 me.
But I do think I need to revisit that particular part of the review now that 2020 me has grown and learned much more than 2013 me.
Now that I think back on it, I don’t think I ever really pictured Sally as being black. In fact, I feel like Hambly kept stressing that Sally was more light-skinned than dark skinned, so she was almost like a white person. Now, this isn’t entirely unreasonable – we do know Sally herself was fathered by Martha Jefferson’s (Thomas’ wife) father and I do believe a couple of Sally’s children did ultimately “pass” once they were freed– but it’s still troubling when I look back on it. The fact that I couldn’t picture Sally as black was both a failing on my part and the author’s part but one that made it easier to excuse this relationship.
And I probably was eager to latch onto Hambly’s explanation because I did like Jefferson’s and Sally’s romance at the time. So it felt like it gave me something of an absolution. Hambly did present it as a romance and that’s how I read it but I should’ve been critical of it.
I am more critical of it.
And of myself.
There’s still a lot I enjoy about this book and there are facets of Sally’s story that makes it interesting. Like her time in Paris, where she gets a breath of freedom. Or how conflicted she feels when she’s given the chance to have an actual husband. It’s written as a romantic decision but there’s some resignation in there, some acknowledgement that she can’t just leave Thomas that easily. Just a different perspective changes how I perceive a scene – from romantic to almost tragic.
Maybe this book needed to have a different “Founding Mother” instead of Sally Hemings. I get why Hambly wanted to include her. The book was published in 2007 and the DNA test that showed the connection between the Jefferson and Hemings families was conducted in 1998. Monticello started to accept this truth in 2001. So it was new and exciting, a part of history not explored before. However, I don’t think most of us really comprehended the implications of Hemings being Jefferson’s slave and the mother of his children. So Hambly picked the version that best served the white man in the story – they were truly in love! – rather than the black woman who was considered his property under the law.
Hemings probably deserves her own book…series to explore everything about her life.
I wonder if Hambly herself looks back on this book and has second thoughts about the position she took on the Jefferson-Hemings plot? If given a second chance, would she still include it or chose another Founding Mother instead. Or would she really commit to showing the fact that Jefferson owned Sally and that she very likely did not have a choice at all?
If she’s said so, I haven’t found it. So I can only wonder.
Bottom line: A great historical romance for anyone who loves American history.
That was my bottom line in 2013. Do I still standby it? For the most part, yes. I would probably change “great” to “good” and probably put in a caveat about Sally’s part now. I do still recommend it and leave it up to each reader to decide if Hambly made the right call with Sally’s story.
Moonlight Musing
Is there a book you’ve revisited and changed your opinion on?
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