In answer, he kissed her again with all his heart and soul, his passion for his wife as keen as on the first day they’d met, and whatever flaws and transgressions lay on the rocky road ahead of them, he knew that she was right: They could meet every obstacle and temptation in their path as long as they were by each other’s side, in love and war, failure and victory, poverty and prosperity, until the curtain closed on their story.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
While this story is inspired by and mostly based on historical fact, the biggest departure of course that anyone can easily discover and point out to the author (but please don’t!) is that Alex and Eliza had children almost immediately after their marriage. So please forgive this young-adult author for wanting to keep them newlyweds for a little while longer and not deal with the reality of children just yet.
Aside from that, Part One hews closely to historical record. Alex and Eliza did move around a lot during the first three years of their marriage and lived at the Pastures after their wedding.
Alex famously strong-armed Washington into giving him a command at Yorktown, and Laurens did serve under him, as did the other officers. Fort descriptions and such are also fairly accurate.
Eliza was at the Pastures when her mother had Kitty, her last baby.
The story about the British raid on the Schuyler house is widely reported, but no one knows if it is true or not. Supposedly, it was Peggy who confronted the invaders, as Eliza retreated upstairs with her infant son, Philip. Aaron Burr was not the officer who checked on them afterward, although he did move to Albany around that time and I thought it would be fun to place him in the scene.
Part Two is much more fictional, however the names of all the society people, as well as their marriages, houses, and anecdotes attributed to them (like the Beekmans’ greenhouse and Mrs. Murray’s invitation to General Howe for tea so George Washington could escape) are real.
Alex and Eliza lived at 57 Wall Street. Aaron and Theodosia Burr lived down the street at 3 Wall. They were neighbors!
Eliza did sit for her well-known portrait by Ralph Earl in debtors’ prison. And Mr. Earl did stay with the Hamiltons after he got out jail.
Alex was known for defending former loyalists from prosecution by the government of Governor George Clinton, and he frequently faced off against Aaron Burr. However, Caroline Childress and her trial are completely fictional.
What is true is that Alex and Governor Clinton were decidedly not fans of each other. And I imagine our strong-willed Eliza would have come to her husband’s defense in all and any social and political skirmishes.
They were a good team, and their story—at least my part in telling it—does not end here.
Watch out for the third book in the Alex & Eliza series next spring!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not exist without the love of my family, my family of friends, and my Penguin family. Thank you especially to my editors, Jennifer Besser and Kate Meltzer, President Jen Loja, Vice President Jocelyn Schmidt, PR maven Elyse Marshall, marketing stars Emily Romero and Erin Berger, and copy editor extraordinaire Anne Heausler. Thank you to my 3Arts family, Richard Abate and Rachel Kim. Thank you to my family-family, the DLCs (Mom, Chit, Christina, Steve, Aina, Nicholas, Josey, Seba, and Marie), Friday Night Taco Club & Hollywood Beach division (Jill, Cole, Tiff, Heidi, Andy, Tony, Carol and all the taco and basketball kids!), the Terrible Trio (Raf & Marg & um, me), and my YALLs of Fest and West. Thank you to my dear readers, loyal and new. Mike and Mattie are thanked at the beginning of this book and at the end, for I begin and end with them.
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