Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon
Where to buy Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon books online?
- ISBN13: 9780374215811
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Early in 1815, Louisa Catherine Adams and her young son left St. Petersburg in a heavy Russian carriage and set out on a hard journey to meet her spouse, John Quincy Adams, in Paris. She traveled through the snows of eastern Europe, down the Baltic coast to Prussia, across the battlefields of Germany, and into a France then experiencing the tumultuous events of Napoleon’s return from Elba. Along the way, she learned what the long years of Napoleon’s wars had done to Europe, what her ancient friends in the royal court in Berlin had veteran during the French occupation, how it felt to have her life threatened by reckless soldiers, and how to manage dread.
The journey was a metaphor for a life spent crossing limits: born in London in 1775, she had grown up partly in France, and in 1797 had married into the most legendary of American political dynasties and become the daughter-in-law of John and Abigail Adams.
The prizewinning historian Michael O’Brien reconstructs for the first time Louisa Adams’s extraordinary passage. An evocative history of the experience of travel in the days of carriages and kings, Mrs. Adams in Winter offers a moving portrait of a lady, her hard marriage, and her conflicted sense of what it meant to be a woman caught between worlds.
The journey was a metaphor for a life spent crossing limits: born in London in 1775, she had grown up partly in France, and in 1797 had married into the most legendary of American political dynasties and become the daughter-in-law of John and Abigail Adams.
The prizewinning historian Michael O’Brien reconstructs for the first time Louisa Adams’s extraordinary passage. An evocative history of the experience of travel in the days of carriages and kings, Mrs. Adams in Winter offers a moving portrait of a lady, her hard marriage, and her conflicted sense of what it meant to be a woman caught between worlds.
Buy Cheap Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon Online
Related posts:
If you combine the history of travel, the last days of the Bonaparte era and the early history of the U.S. with the work of Henry James, you -may- have MRS. ADAMS IN WINTER.
This detailed, insightful account of Louisa Adams’ journey with her son from Petersburg to Paris through what was a maze of countries and war zones is both an incredible journey in terms of travel and an odyssey of the mind of a complex woman who combined personal sensitivity with an awareness of her role in one of America’s most prominent (and hard) families.
I establish the leader’s attempts to described Mrs. Adams’ feelings of alienation, insecurity and inferiority very moving: her sadness, and her identification with additional women linked to powerful men, were concealed nearly as well as her formidable Mother-in-Law might have liked under the guise of a lovely, accomplished, socially adept lady (in the ancient sense).
Adding to this book’s particular appeal is the grace of its writing. Like Henry James and Jane Austin, the leader focuses on the interior monologue and the tiny square of ivory, set against the backdrop of monumental events.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
A fantastic tiny history. The hard journey of Louisa Adams from St. Petersburg, Russia to Paris in 1815 serves here as a platform to tell of the life of John Quincy Adams’ wife; their not untroubled marriage; the work of a diplomat and his spouse; the court of the Czar; the methods and mechanics of a long distance overland trip; and Napoleon’s affect on the European countryside.
Abigail was not the only appealing woman who married an Adams.
Professor Michael O’Brien writes clearly and with simple power on a multitude of appealing past points. His book should win prizes.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5