Several months ago, I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie’s new novel A Founding Mother which tells the story of Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and a determined and brilliant woman in her own right.
“a sweeping, intimate portrayal of Abigail Adams—wife of one president and mother to another—whose wit, willpower and wisdom helped shape the fledgling republic.“
Stephanie and Laura agreed to answers some questions about A Founding Mother and the challenge of co-writing novels.
Mary: Why did you choose Abigail Adams?
Stephanie and Laura: Readers had been asking us for a book about Abigail Adams for years, and we knew that because Abigail was older than our other heroines, we knew she would allow us to tell a substantively different story about the American Revolution. But we were afraid to approach her in part because we are such big fans of the HBO special on John Adams starring Laura Linney as Abigail. How could we compete with that?! Fortunately, in time, we came to believe that though the series beautifully explores Abigail as a helpmeet for John, it doesn’t fully explore her as a mother, and a founding mother. So we decided to put her front and center.
Mary: Letters – how did you sift through the thousand letters written by Abigail Adams to find the keys to her personality and her story? What other sources were instrumental? What surprised you about her life?
Stephanie and Laura: Oh, goodness, we generally start with the secondary sources to get ourselves oriented to the big picture, and we were fortunate that there are excellent biographies of Abigail Adams available, including the one we relied on most, by Woody Holton. We were even more fortunate that many if not most of Abigail’s letters have been transcribed and digitized and can be found on the national archives website Founders.archives.gov. John’s letters are there too. As well as letters to and from Thomas Jefferson and others that Abigail knew and loved.
So a lot of the time researching this book was spent just reading the letters, getting a sense for Abigail’s voice and the things that she cared about. And probably what surprised us was that she was tart and amusing, very opinionated, and quite ahead of her times. We didn’t have to invent her opposition to slavery or her lifelong concern for women and women’s education. We feel that of all the founders, she may actually speak the most resonantly to the modern moment.
How did your earlier two novels inform this new novel?
It’s really fun to have had the chance to write about the founding era from the perspective of three very different families at this point. And we’re also convinced that we wrote them in the right order. When writing America’s First Daughter, about Patsy Jefferson and her father Thomas Jefferson, it was fun to see Abigail as a mentor, and even more fun to see how, in Jefferson’s eyes, Hamilton was the devil. When writing My Dear Hamilton, of course, the roles were reversed, and the Hamiltons hated and feared Jefferson. And in writing about the Adamses in A Founding Mother, we see that John will eventually want to throttle both Jefferson and Hamilton. It’s a good reminder that history looks differently depending on where you’re sitting!
When we write novels, we do so at a point in time. How has this particular point in time – the 2020s – influenced the story? For example, Mercy Warren says: “Your Mr. Adams is also a man on the rise. I liked the speech he gave, in which he said we should ’trust no man living who has the power to endanger public liberty’.
We were always aware in writing this book that it was going to come out during the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and that this date would be sold as the birthday of the nation. We also knew that in a time of such political polarization, people would have complicated feelings about this. That there would be questions about whether the country still has a mission at its heart. About what that mission is. And about what it even means to be a citizen of the United States. Fortunately, Abigail is really able to speak to all that. Her life story helps put our story into perspective. We were really grateful for that.
How do you revise and edit as a writing duo?
We’re fortunate in that the editing process has never been contentious for us. Nine times out of ten in track changes, we just accept all. I think this is because we aren’t too precious about our words, and we speak the same writerly language. If we disagree about something, we’ll talk it out. We have tremendous respect for one another’s talents, so we want to understand what the other person was intending. If there is a disagreement, almost always we come up with a third solution that is better than anything either of us originally came up with. There’s a real synergy and magic there when that happens!
The novel takes place at such a seminal time for America – how did you choose what to emphasize? How did you find the path through the facts to the story? How did you create the balance between the story of America’s founding and Abigail’s story.
There were so many things, and so many people that we wanted to include–but had to leave out. This is because we wanted it to be Abigail’s story so we had to center the things that she was experiencing or thinking about first hand. That meant that we had to leave out really fun episodes, like the time her son-in-law and grandson tried to “liberate” Venezuela. That ended up being an international incident with death threats and it was sooooo juicy. But ultimately, Abigail wasn’t there. So this is our guiding principle in choosing what to emphasize. She has to be at the center of her own story. Luckily for us, America’s founding was at the center of her story. It was her life’s work. She chose it, she sacrificed for it, she poured her heart and soul into the endeavor even when she was bitter about it and feared Americans were terribly ungrateful for her service–which we were.
What advice would Abigail give to Americans today?
I think that first she would scold us for taking so much for granted. Next she’d say that we’re all here to sow some good in the world, even if we don’t live long enough to see what comes of the seeds that we plant. Then she would undoubtedly remind us to remember the ladies–and with our books, we are certainly trying to do that!
What great insights! Many thanks, Laura and Stephanie for sharing your experience writing A Founding Mother.
As I mentioned earlier, I had the privilege of reading an ARC for A Founding Mother. Several thoughts come to mind:
- compelling – a novel I truly couldn’t put down
- the grand sweep of great historical events – from 1765 when the seeds of revolution were first sown, through the war against Britain, the formation of America and its divisive factions, threats of war with France, the early presidents of America including John Adams, the second war of American independence, and the political success of John Quincy Adams
- great characters – at the heart of A Founding Mother is Abigail Adams whose wit and wisdom, determination and resilience, and dedication to marriage and motherhood is inspiring; and we also have John Adams, their children, and many other well-known people from history
- voice – throughout the story is told through Abigail Adams’s voice and point of view. Dray and Kamoie have used their research and Abigail’s letters to create a fascinating woman whose wisdom is just as relevant today as it was more than two hundred years ago
- relevance to today – the words of Abigail Adams and the story Laura and Stephanie tell offer important insights for the times we are experiencing
There’s a reason Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie are New York Times bestselling authors! They write amazing novels. Highly recommended!
A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
In time for the 250th Anniversary of the birth of the United States comes a sweeping, intimate portrayal of Abigail Adams—wife of one president and mother to another—whose wit, willpower, and wisdom helped shape the fledgling republic. A stunning historical novel with modern-day implications from the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter and My Dear Hamilton.
In the heart of revolutionary Boston, Abigail Adams raises her children amid riots, blockades, and the outbreak of war. While her husband, John Adams, rises from country lawyer to nation-builder, often away for years at a time, Abigail builds her own independence—managing their farm, making lucrative investments, amassing savings, battling plague and loss, and defending their home. Unafraid to speak her mind, she famously offers fearless political counsel, urging John to “remember the ladies” in the new government. Through it all, she becomes his most trusted confidante and indispensable ally.
When peace is secured, Abigail steps onto the world stage—exchanging ideas with Thomas Jefferson in the French countryside, navigating court life as the wife of the Minister to Great Britain, and presiding over the parlor politics of the early American republic in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Even after her husband’s presidential administration, she continues battling political foes and working behind the scenes to advance her family, secure independence for the women in her life, and ensure a better life for the next generation of Americans.
From war-torn streets to the chandeliered halls of power, A Founding Mother is the unforgettable story of a woman ahead of her time—one whose voice, vision, and valor still resonate powerfully today.
Other posts featuring Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie:
- My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
- Social Media Mistakes by Laura Kamoie – a presentation at HNS 2019
- Reflections on Writing Historical Fiction by Stephanie Dray
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY. There’s a SUBSCRIBE function on the right hand side of the page.
M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
