A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams

In the spring of 1804, Abigail learns that Jefferson’s youngest daughter, Polly, has died in childbirth. The news revives Abigail’s own grief over Charles. Moved, she secretly writes a letter of condolence to President Jefferson. His reply, while warm at first, infuriates her by stating that he “forgave” John for his “midnight appointments” of federal officials at the end of his term. This sparks a contentious correspondence between them. Abigail defends her husband’s actions and criticizes Jefferson. Their debate escalates to the constitutionality of the Alien and Sedition Acts. While the correspondence is still ongoing, news arrives that Vice President Aaron Burr has killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Worried that her politically compromising letters might be exposed, Abigail confides in John Quincy, who urges her to tell his father. Abigail shows the letters to John, who is displeased.

In the summer of 1807, Nabby’s husband, Colonel Smith, is arrested by the Jefferson administration for organizing a private military mission to liberate Venezuela, using his own money and allowing his son Willy to join. With legal help from John Quincy, Colonel Smith is acquitted, but his reputation and career are ruined. Nabby and her children, including Willy, come to stay at Peacefield. Soon after, Abigail and John read Mercy Otis Warren’s new history of the revolution and are enraged to find she has accused John of being corrupted by European monarchism. Abigail encourages John to finish his own autobiography to correct the record. Despite the recent turmoil, Abigail experiences a moment of gratitude and peace as she watches her three surviving children and nearly all of her grandchildren gathered safely at the family farm.

By March 1809, John Quincy has lost his Senate seat and is working as a lawyer and Harvard professor. He informs his parents that the new president, James Madison, has appointed him minister to Russia. Abigail is devastated, arguing that she and John are too old and will never live to see him again. She passionately opposes the appointment, but John supports his son, believing it is his patriotic duty. Overwrought with grief, Abigail cannot attend her son’s departure. John Quincy and his wife, Louisa Catherine, leave for Russia together; their young sons, George and John-John, remain behind. In the end, Abigail sends her son a farewell note containing the blessing she could not give in person.

In March 1811, Nabby informs her family that she has discovered a lump in her breast and is coming to Boston for medical care. Both Dr. Benjamin Rush and Dr. Tufts conclude a mastectomy is necessary.

John Quincy writes from Russia asking that his sons be sent to live with their uncle Tommy to learn riding and shooting. Knowing that Tommy has developed an alcohol addiction and recently suffered a serious fall from his horse while inebriated, Abigail decides against it. She instead sends the boys to her sister Elizabeth, who is widowed and remarried, in New Hampshire. Tommy is wounded by this decision and confronts his parents. He reveals that his own childhood stay with their aunt was traumatic, as he lived in fear of Reverend Shaw’s physical punishment of the children as well as the violence Shaw directed at Aunt Elizabeth. John and Abigail are horrified, having been completely unaware of what their son endured.

In March 1812, Abigail discovers that John has resumed corresponding with Thomas Jefferson. Though she questions his judgment, she accepts it. That summer, the United States declares a second war against Great Britain. Shortly thereafter, Abigail’s dear friend and former servant, Phoebe, dies after a long illness, with Abigail holding her hand at the end.

In the summer of 1813, Nabby returns to Peacefield, emaciated and weak. The cancer has returned, and she has come home to die. Serene and accepting of her fate, she spends her final weeks surrounded by her family, even choosing the hymn for her funeral. She dies in her husband’s arms, surrounded by family. Abigail is shattered by the loss. In the year that follows, her faith falters and she feels her life’s purpose lost, visiting Nabby’s grave and speaking to her daughter as if she can still hear. Only two children live, but she feels disconnected from even those two.

In September 1814, news that the British have burned Washington sends Abigail into despair, feeling all she and John worked for is lost. Neighbors praise Dolley Madison for saving a portrait of George Washington, and Abigail is inspired to take action of her own. She isolates herself for days, writing furiously. Her spirits begin to lift as news arrives of American military victories at Lake Champlain and Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

On their 50th wedding anniversary, Abigail gives John a gift: Her last will and testament. She reveals that she has amassed a personal fortune through her business dealings and has written a will bequeathing it all to her female relatives and servants. Acknowledging that the law gives her no right to own or distribute property, she asks John to use his power to make her wishes legally binding. John vows that he will honor her will. The promise restores Abigail’s sense of love and purpose.

In the summer of 1817, an elderly Abigail and John Adams are reunited with John Quincy, who returns home after an eight-year absence. Now 50, John Quincy has successfully negotiated the treaty ending the recent war with Britain and has been unanimously confirmed as President Monroe’s Secretary of State, a role that positions him for the presidency. During his visit, the family shares news of both losses—the deaths of several relatives including Colonel Smith and John Quincy’s young daughter, and the disappearance of their son Tommy—and gains, such as the marriages and children of their grandchildren. John Quincy expresses reluctance to leave for Washington, fearing the toll it will take on his parents. He tells Abigail that his father called her his “never-failing support” and worries she will “sink” (437) with grief as she did after Nabby’s death. Abigail reassures him that she will “soar” with pride. She concludes by reflecting that her life’s sacrifices for her children and country were purposeful.

The authors note that Abigail Adams died of typhoid fever in 1818, and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, just hours after Thomas Jefferson. They affirm the historical basis for Abigail’s portrayal as a lifelong advocate for women’s equality, citing her famous “Remember the Ladies” letter and her support for women’s right to vote.

They confirm the factual accuracy of many of the novel’s key events, including Charles’s alcohol addiction, Nabby’s horrific mastectomy, and Abigail’s secret political correspondence with Jefferson. They also clarify several narrative simplifications, such as combining John Adams’s two diplomatic trips to France into a single journey, which omitted his work writing the Massachusetts state constitution. The note mentions that key figures like Abigail’s niece, Louisa Smith, and several dedicated servants were left out for narrative focus. Finally, the authors state that while Abigail benefited from enslaved labor in her youth, she and John never trafficked in slavery and consistently wrote against the institution. The book’s publication is timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.