Our complete bibliography is too expansive to list here, but we want to acknowledge especially our reliance on the letters of Hamilton, his family, friends, colleagues, contemporaries, and biographers in providing period-appropriate language, descriptions, and viewpoints. Additionally, we reference the New York State Museum’s extensive collection of essays on early Albany and the Schuyler family. We cite the authoritative Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, for most—but not all—of our characterizations and interpretations of Alexander in this novel.
Thanks to Chernow and Lin Manuel-Miranda’s hit musical, the last few years have witnessed a remarkable renewal of general interest in our founding generation and Hamilton in specific. We’re grateful to them and the influence of novelists such as Alice Curtis Desmond, Elizabeth Cobbs, and Juliet Waldron. We were additionally informed in our research for this novel by Allan McLane Hamilton’s The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton, Georgina Schuyler’s The Schuyler Mansion at Albany, Katharine Schuyler Baxter’s A Godchild of Washington, Mary Gay Humphreys’s Catherine Schuyler, Peter G. Rose’s Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch, Anne Grant’s Memoirs of an American Lady, Warren Roberts’s A Place in History: Albany in the Age of Revolution, Cornell University’s Bicentennial History of Albany, Gerald Edward Kahler’s Gentlemen of the Family: General George Washington’s Aides-de-Camp and Military Secretaries, Joanne B. Freeman’s Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic, Thomas Fleming’s Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America, Roger G. Kennedy’s Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character, Benson John Lossing’s The Life and Times of Philip Schuyler, George Morgan’s The Life of James Monroe, James Thacher’s Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War, Joseph T. Glatthaar’s Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution, Harlow Giles Unger’s The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness, Karen E. Robbins’s James McHenry: Forgotten Federalist, Francois Furstenberg’s When the United States Spoke French, Robert Tonsetic’s 1781: The Decisive Year of the Revolutionary War, J. H. Powell’s Bring Out Your Dead, David Lefer’s The Founding Conservatives, Joseph J. Ellis’s Founding Brothers, Anthony S. Pitch’s The Burning of Washington, Paul A. Gilje’s New York in the Age of the Constitution, and Edward Countryman’s A People in Revolution. For a more extensive bibliography please visit our website at DrayKamoie.com.
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About the Author
Meet Stephanie Dray
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About the Book
Dicussion Questions
Walking in Eliza Schuyler Hamilton’s Footsteps: A Conversation with the Authors
Telling Her Story: How My Dear Hamilton Differs from Hamilton: An American Musical
About the AuthorMeet Stephanie Dray
STEPHANIE DRAY is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into eight languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. Before she became a novelist, she was a lawyer and a teacher. Now she lives near the nation’s capital with her husband, cats, and history books. Meet Laura Kamoie
LAURA KAMOIE is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. She holds a doctoral degree in early American history from the College of William and Mary, has published two nonfiction books on early America, and most recently held the position of associate professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy before transitioning to a full-time career writing fiction. Laura lives among the colonial charm of Annapolis, Maryland, with her husband and two daughters.
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About the BookDiscussion Questions
What do you think of Eliza’s declaration that she was someone before she met Alexander Hamilton? Why do you think she feels it’s important to remember that?
A young Eliza wonders how a daughter can make a difference in the revolution. Does she make a difference? In what ways?
How does Eliza view herself in the novel and how does that change over the course of her life?
Does seeing Alexander Hamilton through his wife’s eyes make him more relatable as a Founding Father? How so or why not?
Martha Washington tells a newly married Eliza that achieving independence will require the support of women, and one way women can offer that support is by advising their husbands. What did you think of her advice? Does Eliza take it? How and when? How effective is Mrs. Washington’s advice?
The Schuyler family’s motto was Semper Fidelis. Always loyal. How does this play out in the book for Eliza?
Was Hamilton a good husband? Was Eliza a good wife? How did they change in those roles over the course of the novel?
What were the most important choices that Eliza made throughout her life and in her marriage? Do you agree with why she made them? Could or should she have chosen differently?
What did you think of the relationship among Eliza, Angelica, and Alexander? What do you make of the open flirtatiousness between Angelica and Alexander? How and why does Eliza’s relationship with Angelica evolve over the course of their lives?
What did you think of Eliza’s reaction to learning about Alexander’s infidelity with Maria Reynolds? What did you think of the reconciliation they found after suffering from yellow fever?
How do Eliza’s thoughts about slavery evolve? What factors influence her thinking? How do the depictions of slavery in New York differ from or meet your expectations and understanding of American slavery?
What did you think of Aaron Burr’s characterization in the novel? How does Alexander and Eliza’s relationship with him change over time?
How much was Alexander to blame for the challenges he faced in his political career and attacks launched by his enemies, and how much was he the victim of others’ political machinations?
Though Thomas Jefferson is not often
