Presidential Romance

A friend recommended a book to me and was rather insistent upon my taking a look at it because she thought it was so sweet. Because she’s my best friend and it seemed to mean a lot to her, I picked up the book. Mary Higgins Clark typically writes mystery/suspense novels, but she had a hankering to write a historical romance with none other than our nation’s first president, George Washington, and his lovely wife, Martha or as she was called, Patsy. The book is A Mount Vernon Love Story and it works on two fronts seeing as George loved his home, Mount Vernon, and he loved Patsy, who eventually lived in Mount Vernon.

The novel starts as Washington is stepping down from the Presidency and handing the reigns to Adams. From here, George reminisces about his younger years and thus other chapters take place before and during the Revolution. Every two chapters or so, the novel flits back to George as he’s leaving the Presidency and anticipating his return to Mount Vernon. The novel deals mostly with Washington’s personal life, but of course his military and public years cannot be ignored. This, however, is a novel about love and the trials that George deals with on that front. God knows that even a general has a hard time with strategy when it comes to love.

The novel was sweet. My dear friend was right. It is an easy read, weighing in at a measly 230 pages. I enjoyed learning about the personal history of George Washington and a little about Martha. Washington was a very measured and disciplined man, so seeing his affection and adoration of his wife and stepchildren was enlightening. My problems with the book stem from the writing style and the depth of the story.

Obviously, when talking about the public and personal life of a president, there’s a lot to cover. I applaud Clark for taking on such an enormous undertaking, but I felt there was a lot missing. She skimmed over major events in Washington’s life and did not go as in depth with his personal life as she could. This is a rich subject and I felt that it only touched on the surface and quickly ran on to the next event. The other thing that threw me off was the chapter to chapter jumps from old George to young George and the terrible transitions from one to the next. Yuck. Just do a chapter at the beginning when he’s old and have a good transition into his early years, then at the end go back to him going to Mount Vernon after his term is finished. Boom. I just made your book better Mary Higgins Clark.