Stephanie Dray

Laura Kamoie

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy. From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France. It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter. Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

A Novel

America's First Daughter

Holly 

SONS OF A REVOLUTION FIGHT FOR LIBERTY. They give blood, flesh, limbs, their very lives. But daughters ... we sacrifice our eternal souls. This I am sure of, as I stand in the quiet emptiness of my father's private chambers.

"Didn't the treatment work, Papa?" He lowered his instrument.

 "The science is sound. It asks us to suffer a milder form of the illness to guard against the more virulent attack." He explained more, but the words were beyond my reach and my head ached intolerably. I must've said as much, because he glanced up at the ceiling, closing his eyes. "Patsy, suffering strengthens our constitutions and builds inner fortifications so that we never fall prey to the same agony twice. We must take upon ourselves a smaller evil to defend against the greater evil. We must take upon ourselves a smaller pain in order to survive." 

“We must endure criticism if we're to honor the spirit of independence."

it was all very well for me to study music and Latin, but I was now decided that it would be much better for our fathers and husbands - for the country itself-if all American women learned to study the manners of people and warn against the bad ones.

 "You may take a lesson from this, Patsy. Reputation is everything. A soiled reputation in an ordinary person may reduce them to impoverishment, but a soiled reputation in someone like the queen may take down a government."

 "We treat your father like a living monument because he was born to do Important work.”

But I did know that appearances could be deceiving, and Virginians are better at hiding their troubles than just about any other people on earth

IN VIRGINIA it wasn't merely a matter of masculine pride - it was a matter of survival. Every loan for the farm, every advance of credit for seeds and foodstuffs, every public office and proposal of marriage depended on honor. 

“I’ll tell you a secret about being happy, Tom. Sometimes you just have to pretend at it until it becomes real."

“Papa always says that those we loved first, are those we love best." 

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