A drawing of an obelisk monument and tombstone to be inscribed with what he wished to be remembered for-and not a word more.Īuthor of the Declaration of American Independence But never his intellect that he had to the last.įrom between the pages of a leather-bound book on his revolving book stand, I find a sketch. His hands, his eyesight, and his endurance all failed him in the end.
READ MOREĮven knowing that he’ll never return, I hesitate to settle into the red leather swivel armchair upon which my father struggled to write his letters, fewer and fewer every year. Light filters down on me from the skylight built into the soaring ceiling and plays off the mirrors to make me feel as an actor upon a stage, playing a secret role. My gaze drifts from the alcove bed where Papa drew his last breaths to his private cabinet beyond to the adjustable mahogany drawing desk he brought from Paris so many years before. I’m here now because my father is dead and buried. This I am sure of, as I stand in the quiet emptiness of my father’s private chambers. They give blood, flesh, limbs, their very lives. 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. Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. 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. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love-with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. 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. 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. 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.įrom her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still.
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