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Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father; A Novel
Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father; A Novel
Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father; A Novel
Audiobook11 hours

Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father; A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

From the critically acclaimed author of The Widow's War comes a captivating work of literary historical fiction that explores the tenuous relationship between a brilliant and complex father and his devoted daughter—Thomas Jefferson and Martha Jefferson Randolph.

After the death of her beloved mother, Martha Jefferson spent five years abroad with her father, Thomas Jefferson, on his first diplomatic mission to France. Now, at seventeen, Jefferson’s bright, handsome eldest daughter is returning to the lush hills of the family’s beloved Virginia plantation, Monticello. While the large, beautiful estate is the same as she remembers, Martha has changed. The young girl that sailed to Europe is now a woman with a heart made heavy by a first love gone wrong.

The world around her has also become far more complicated than it once seemed. The doting father she idolized since childhood has begun to pull away. Moving back into political life, he has become distracted by the tumultuous fight for power and troubling new attachments. The home she adores depends on slavery, a practice Martha abhors. But Monticello is burdened by debt, and it cannot survive without the labor of her family’s slaves. The exotic distant cousin she is drawn to has a taste for dangerous passions, dark desires that will eventually compromise her own.

As her life becomes constrained by the demands of marriage, motherhood, politics, scandal, and her family’s increasing impoverishment, Martha yearns to find her way back to the gentle beauty and quiet happiness of the world she once knew at the top of her father’s “little mountain.”

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateSep 6, 2016
ISBN9780062471871
Author

Sally Cabot Gunning

Sally Cabot Gunning lives in Brewster, Massachusetts, with her husband, Tom. A lifelong resident of New England, she is active in local historical organizations and creates tours that showcase the three-hundred-year history of her village. She is the author of three “Satucket novels” (The Widow’s War, Bound, and The Rebellion of Jane Clarke), as well as the historical novels Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard and Monticello.

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Reviews for Monticello

Rating: 3.702127663829787 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

47 ratings14 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Earlier this year, I read America's First Daughter, another fictionalized account of Martha Jefferson's life. I LOVED that book. So I was very interested to read this novel, to see the story of Martha's life from another author's viewpoint. Unfortunately, this novel doesn't even hold a candle to America's First Daughter.As other reviewers have stated, this novel is so bleak! Nothing good ever seems to happen; it's just an accounting of all the bad things that happened to Martha throughout her life. Martha seems so passive, just letting all these things happen TO her. I found this novel relatively light on dialog, as if the author just wanted to share her research with us. There's no significant plot moving the story (such as it is) forward. I was SO bored, and truly had to force myself to finish. I can't recommend this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Monticello, the estate plays as large a role in this novel as does Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson. The book ostensibly belongs to Martha – it is her story of love, frustration and duty.When the book opens the Jeffersons are returning from France to return to their beloved home of Monticello. But after the sophistication of Europe does it look a little….shabby? It matters little to Martha as she has always found comfort there. Her only troubles come from the owning of slaves; she is not happy about it and while in France her father had discussed with her the possibility of freeing those that they had but once home the economics of running the plantation would not allow for it.Soon life settles back into a rhythm and a young man comes calling. He, too wishes that slaves were not necessary and as their courtship progresses they talk of living on a small place where they could run it without the labor of slaves. Thomas Mann Randolph soon marries Martha and his troublesome father gifts him a plantation in an area that Martha finds unpleasant but she moves and works as hard as she can to make it work. But as she gets close to delivering with each of her children she returns to her beloved Monticello for delivery.Martha’s life is closely bound to her father’s as he becomes Vice President, then President. She cared for him closely an also helped him at times at the White House being a de facto First Lady. She did this while also managing a household and bearing 12 children. Monticello was always her place of refuge.As I noted the plantation plays as much of a role as any living person. It’s a vital presence in the book and Ms. Cabot depicts it in a very loving way. She does not spare her characters from their flaws – I must admit that Martha is not at likable nor at times is Mr. Jefferson. Don’t even get me started on Mr. Randolph. I really need to further learn about him to see if he was as much of a waste as he was depicted. Poor Martha….in having to deal with him was the only time I had any sympathy for her.The book is well researched and I found it very interesting. American history is not my strong suit and I did learn a little about Martha in a previous read so she wasn’t totally unknown to me. I did learn far more about Mr. Jefferson and his beautiful home. It’s certainly a book worth reading and an interesting look at a founding father who was uncomfortable with slavery while sleeping with the help.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Monticello, the estate plays as large a role in this novel as does Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Jefferson. The book ostensibly belongs to Martha – it is her story of love, frustration and duty.When the book opens the Jeffersons are returning from France to return to their beloved home of Monticello. But after the sophistication of Europe does it look a little….shabby? It matters little to Martha as she has always found comfort there. Her only troubles come from the owning of slaves; she is not happy about it and while in France her father had discussed with her the possibility of freeing those that they had but once home the economics of running the plantation would not allow for it.Soon life settles back into a rhythm and a young man comes calling. He, too wishes that slaves were not necessary and as their courtship progresses they talk of living on a small place where they could run it without the labor of slaves. Thomas Mann Randolph soon marries Martha and his troublesome father gifts him a plantation in an area that Martha finds unpleasant but she moves and works as hard as she can to make it work. But as she gets close to delivering with each of her children she returns to her beloved Monticello for delivery.Martha’s life is closely bound to her father’s as he becomes Vice President, then President. She cared for him closely an also helped him at times at the White House being a de facto First Lady. She did this while also managing a household and bearing 12 children. Monticello was always her place of refuge.As I noted the plantation plays as much of a role as any living person. It’s a vital presence in the book and Ms. Cabot depicts it in a very loving way. She does not spare her characters from their flaws – I must admit that Martha is not at likable nor at times is Mr. Jefferson. Don’t even get me started on Mr. Randolph. I really need to further learn about him to see if he was as much of a waste as he was depicted. Poor Martha….in having to deal with him was the only time I had any sympathy for her.The book is well researched and I found it very interesting. American history is not my strong suit and I did learn a little about Martha in a previous read so she wasn’t totally unknown to me. I did learn far more about Mr. Jefferson and his beautiful home. It’s certainly a book worth reading and an interesting look at a founding father who was uncomfortable with slavery while sleeping with the help.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Just returned from Paris, Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha is on the brink of womanhood. Clever and refined, she knows little about running a household, but is highly qualified to be the wife and companion of a gentleman. When she is swept off her feet by her handsome cousin Thomas Randolph, Martha must decide if she is ready to leave Monticello, her father's beautiful home. Throughout her married life, Martha frequently returns to Monticello, but as time goes by she must accept the fact that her father has stopped fighting for the cause of abolition -- and she also must grapple with the ramifications of her father's relationship with his slave Sally Hemings.I found this an engaging and fascinating look at Martha Jefferson Randolph's life. Though the book is subtitled "A Daughter and Her Father," the book is about all of Martha's relationships, including her relationship with Monticello itself. Of course, her relationship with her father is one of the most significant of her life. Readers who enjoy thoughtful historical fiction about real people in American history will find this read rewarding.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An informative and compelling look at the life of Martha Jefferson. She is devoted to her father but, this novel really isn't about Thomas Jefferson. It begins with their return from living in France where Jefferson was one of the ambassadors. They return to Monticello and attempt to start their lives again the home that Jefferson loves. There are crops to plant, books to read, and other things to keep them both busy. Martha has taken over the role that her late mother fulfilled, mistress of the house. One thing that her mother didn't have to deal with, however, was Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings. It's a complex look at the necessary wickedness of slavery - these plantations could not survive without them, yet, at least at Monticello, the Jeffersons longed to give them their freedom. Martha is caught between several heartbreaking situations; she loves one man and is married to another who is slipping away into a fierce madness, she is jealous of the attention her father gives to Sally but only wants him to be happy, and she cannot convince her father to help end slavery knowing that his beloved Monticello would suffer.The research done by the author is evident and makes for a fascinating look at one of the first families. Highly recommended for historical fiction fans and American history buffs.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Poor Martha Jefferson. That was my initial response to finishing this book: Poor Martha. This book tells the story of the life of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the US (after being vice president and ambassador to France, all jobs that took him away from his beloved Monticello plantation in Virginia), by way of his daughter, Martha. Her story starts out depressing and ends even more depressing, as first her mother dies and her life is uprooted as she is packed up and taken to France with her family only to fall in love with the wrong man (or is he? No spoilers here, but surely I'm not the only one to wonder, after finishing this book, if perhaps her whole life hinged on the moment she left William Short in France?), and then she marries too quickly (and the wrong man, at that) and her whole life goes downhill. The backdrop of Monticello, built and maintained on the backs of slaves (even as Martha, her husband Tom, and her father all discuss the ways to end slavery), is beautiful in description, though by the end of the novel it is obvious that the plantation itself has been their downfall. I loved that the story stays true to history, right down to the minute Jefferson died, and yet brought it to life in a way that was both imaginative and truthfully descriptive. For anyone interested in plantation life, early American history, or just seeing a different side of a President so oft-written about from a political point of view, this book is for you.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    *I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*This is the second novel about Martha Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, I read this year and unfortunately this one doesn't quite measure up to the scope and detail of America's First Daughter. On the other hand, Sally Cabot Gunning does provide a sympathetic look at the world of early nineteenth-century Virginia farmers, with their constant debt, conflicted consciences over slavery, and the undercurrents beneath their polite society. A good novelization of a fascinating life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I recently read America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray which I enjoyed a great deal. Therefore, I was excited to read Monticello to get a different perspective on the relationship between Martha and her dad, and to learn more about the protagonist I had become so interested in by the end of the first novel. Almost immediately I was surprised by how similar the story lines were. I hadn't heard about "Patsy" before so for two novel to be released within the year telling the same basic story was weird. Though it may be viewed as bad luck for Sally Cabot Gunning, in actuality it may be serendipitous due to the success of the former book and newfound interest in the subject matter.Though I would recommend both, The Dray book reads much more like a romance novel ; it was more dramatic and engaging with more stereotypical characters. Gunning's book is probably closer to the truth. However, this became frustrating at times when Martha did not take the action that a 21st century leading lady would or failed to ask her father the questions about Sally that she always wanted to ask him (and we wanted to hear about). I'm glad I read both and plan to visit Monticello in the future. I guess we are very lucky that it even exists, considering that Jefferson was penniless upon his death.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Earlier this year, I read America's First Daughter, another fictionalized account of Martha Jefferson's life. I LOVED that book. So I was very interested to read this novel, to see the story of Martha's life from another author's viewpoint. Unfortunately, this novel doesn't even hold a candle to America's First Daughter.As other reviewers have stated, this novel is so bleak! Nothing good ever seems to happen; it's just an accounting of all the bad things that happened to Martha throughout her life. Martha seems so passive, just letting all these things happen TO her. I found this novel relatively light on dialog, as if the author just wanted to share her research with us. There's no significant plot moving the story (such as it is) forward. I was SO bored, and truly had to force myself to finish. I can't recommend this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was delighted to receive a copy of Monticello, a historic novel of Thomas Jefferson’s home by Sally Cabot Gunning. The story centers on the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his daughter Martha, nicknamed Patsy. The story begins when the Jeffersons return to Monticello after years living in France and the story follows Martha from 1789 to 1809, the death of her father, Thomas Jefferson. My first impression, which remained to the end of the novel, questions Gunning use of third person in telling the story. Gunning should have used first person in telling the story. The third person narrative made all Martha’s emotions seem trivial instead of heart wrenching. Martha battles with the issue of slavery and the rights of individuals, but in third person, the story loses conviction and determination. The story bumps along like a high school history book, and the drama submerges to indifference. The description of Monticello shines in its years of oblivion, just waiting to be revived. The financial woes of large plantation owners expose individuals trapped in the tradition of slavery and searching for survival.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was not a big fan of Gunnings's Sawtucket novels, but since I have a great interest in Thomas Jefferson, I thought I would give her another try. Sadly, this one was worse. The problem I had with the Sawtucket novels was that she create female protagonists who are very passive and then suddenly become empowered. I felt like I was getting hit over the head with anachronistic feminism (kind of like that really bad film version of The Scarlet Letter with Demi Moore). She does her research but then lets her theme/agenda get the better of her. In this story of Martha Jefferson Randolph, passivity reigns supreme. It seems her agenda this time is to show how oppressed women of the times were, even the daughters and wives of wealthy, famous persons. And of course, there is a parallel made between Martha's suffering and the Jefferson slaves. This will be the last time I read a novel by Sally Gunning.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a tale of Martha Jefferson and her father, Thomas Jefferson. When Martha loses her mother at an early age the task of comforting, listening to and being a hostess at Monticello falls to Martha. There is also another in the shadows that will have as much attention from Thomas Jefferson - the slave Sally Hemmings. As Martha grows up marries and begins to have a family she continues to vie for her father's attention as his shadow family also grows. Martha spends her whole life catering to her father's wishes , putting Monticello above her own family's interests. Her husband never really made a success of any of the estates or investments so they were in debt to Thomas Jefferson for much of their lives. It is a hard look at how slavery, family loyalty and politics did not always blend.My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a very readable, fictionalization account of the adult life of Martha Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter. Written in sections, named for the homes where they are set, the novel follows Martha's journey from love struck teen to weary grandmother. Earlier this year, I read America's First Daughter, another factionalized account of Martha's life. Personally, I prefer this account as it portrays a more realistic Mrs. Randolph and is not mired down with the William Short love story as a sub-plot. Romance fans may disagree, and some readers may find this version bogged down with details of estate management and finance. Martha's story is one that should be told, dive in and read them both!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Martha Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings.Martha's story on how she grew up, married and had 12 children - how being Thomas Jefferson's daughter affected her life; the hardship and happinesses of marrying Thomas Randolph - what life was like in the early 1800s and how Sally fit into all this by Martha's recollection.