Love & War: An Alex & Eliza Story
By Andrea Beach,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Hamilton's early married life lacks romance-history balance.
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What's the Story?
LOVE & WAR imagines the early married life of founding power couple Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. The Revolutionary War may be winding down, but duty keeps Alex not just from spending time with his bride, Eliza, but from settling into a home of their own. So Eliza stays on at The Pastures, her parents' upstate New York manor, while Alex continues trying to make a name for himself as a battle commander. Eventually the war ends, and the couple excitedly sets up house in a fashionable area of Manhattan. But in the aftermath of war, the island is a chaotic, half-empty shell of its former self. The need of an income, and the demands of creating a new government now that Britain is gone, keep Alex away from home most of the time. This leaves Eliza to find her own way in a strange new city. How can the young couple forge a relationship and a nation at the same time?
Is It Any Good?
Romance takes a back seat in this second installment that doesn't quite find the balance to fully satisfy romance fans or history buffs. Love & War is about a time in the young couple's life just after they're married when either war or economic necessity means they spend a lot of time apart. So readers who aren't fans of both romance and history may get impatient waiting to get back to the parts they find most interesting. By the end we start to see how Alex and Eliza will find balance in their lives and love, so fans of America's trendiest founding power couple will look forward to the promised third installment of their story.
The focus on the couple's early married life means that, although there's no content of concern for tweens and up, it's probably best suited to big fans of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton anxious to explore more details about Alex and Eliza's story, and to history-minded teens wondering about starting a life of their own.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Love & War: An Alex & Eliza Story blends fact and fiction. Is that OK, or should authors stick to either fact or fiction? Why?
Did you read the first book in the series? Which do you like better? Why?
How does learning about the past help us understand our lives today? Why should we learn about history?
Book Details
- Author: Melissa de la Cruz
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Great Girl Role Models, History
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
- Publication date: April 17, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 18
- Number of pages: 384
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: April 30, 2018
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