Hamilton was a bastard son, raised on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. He went to America to pursue his education. Along the way he became one of the American Revolution’s most dashing—and unlikely—heroes. Adored by Washington, hated by Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the American Revolution.
She was the well-to-do daughter of one of New York’s most exalted families—feisty, adventurous, and loyal to a fault. When she met Alexander, she fell head over heels. She pursued him despite his illegitimacy, and loved him despite his infidelity. In 1816, she shamed Congress into supporting his seven orphaned children. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton started New York’s first orphanage. The only “founding mother” to truly embrace public service, she raised 160 children in addition to her own.
Show of hands, how many of you readers have heard of, listened to the soundtrack of, or even seen the musical Hamilton created by Lin-Manuel Miranda? Me too. I had a Hamilton frenzy going on for a solid ten months or so. I would slip in references, quote the show, and look up facts about the cast of historical characters. It doesn't help that Revolutionary-era America is my favourite era in American history. Eliza Hamilton is life goals. My love for this musical and its story was non-stop. (hey, I made a Hamilton pun!) So imagine my delight when I found this at the bookstore last fall, about the lives of Alexander and Eliza's marriage. I always get a few books for Christmas, and this was one of them. I only just read it now.
Elizabeth Cobbs started this book before the success of the musical, but it was probably being edited as the musical was reaching its peak popularity, so as a result there are many references and sort-of in jokes to the musical, including many lines, such as the most popular and oft-quoted one:
Yep, that's the one.
I want to stress something though. This is not the same as the musical. While the musical is more about his politics and the Revolution, the book is more about their courtship and marriage. This is straight-up a love story between Alexander and Eliza. It was interesting to see their early lives from each of their perspectives, which added to the contrast that they had in terms of background - "How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman" (heh, get it?) get together with a wealthy daughter of a war hero? The first half of the book follows them from their early lives up until their wedding in 1781, all the way through the Revolution, the second half follows them through the sex scandal with Hamilton and Maria Reynolds until the duel and Alexander's death in 1804.
The parts involving the Revolution, especially once Alexander and Eliza had met were very glossed over, and only referenced in background, which I get for the sake of the love story that Cobbs is trying to set up. Very few characters from the musical that were pivotal to the Hamiltons show up beyond a brief cameo every now and again, including Angelica Schuyler Church, Eliza's older sister and confidante, who was so important, both historically and in the musical. Aaron Burr, one of Hamilton's nemeses only gets a few mentions, and then becomes uber-important in the concluding chapters, when they have their duel in 1804. Moments that would have been so exciting to read about, such as a hugely pregnant Eliza having to hide in a closet to evade British redcoats, are given a brief mention, and the affair itself between Alexander and Maria Reynolds - and the fallout from that - is given at most 50-75 pages of treatment. While short in treatment, Cobbs adds details that were absent from the musical in the affair sections among other scenes.
What I enjoyed most about the book was Cobbs' dedication to the history, and as she says in the author's note, tried to be as accurate to history within the limits of fiction. While bigger historical and personal moments were glossed over for the sake of the love story between the two leads, the moments of history were done with as accuracy. Her writing style and prose, for the most part, is excellent and adds to the story at hand, but there are a few moments here and there that are just too blatantly foreshadowing or ironic. This only happens a few times. The characterization is fine. I felt like I connected most with the only fictional character the most. Alexander and Eliza are given more character development in the musical, but that is not to say they do not get character development here. I really liked how in the epilogue, Cobbs shows in detail what Eliza did to tell her husband's story.
The Hamilton Affair is a fine novel on its own as a historical fiction. It works a lot better if you know the history behind it, as without background information and knowledge, at least from the musical, you'll be confused about some sequence of events in parts, or won't get certain references. Cobbs does historical fiction really well for the most part, blending history and fiction well. While certain parts were glossed over, and it would have been nice to see some pivotal characters from the musical that were integral in the lives of the real Alexander Hamilton such as Jefferson, John Laurens, more of Lafayette and Mulligan, and especially Aaron Burr, sir (sorry, that's it for puns), the central story was done really well, and besides the duel and a few other moments, these characters don't really affect Alexander and Eliza's marriage, so I can see why she opted to sideline them. In this book, however, we do get to see people that were only very briefly mentioned in the play such as Angelica's husband John Church, and some of the other political friends and rivals. Once I separated it from the musical, it was a charming read with a good interpretation of the romance between Alexander and Eliza Hamilton, less focal on the politcal aspects of the Hamiltons' lives. What she does really well is humanize Alexander and Eliza, not dissimilar to Lin-Manuel Miranda; these people aren't perfect, they made mistakes and messed up from time to time, some bigger messes than others, but this book shows how they loved each other and always came back to each other even in times of trial and tribulation, which I think was probably one of Cobbs' main goals. It's got good writing, it's a relatively quick read, and she weaves Alexander and Eliza's stories together really well, and shows how much they loved each other. I'm going to give The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs a 3.5/5. It was good, but not a perfect novel, but I liked it just fine, and if you're into Hamilton, romances, and/or historical fiction you will probably like this book.
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