The Women Jefferson Loved

For many Americans of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Thomas Jefferson was a living symbol of all the United States stood for. Jefferson himself sought to protect this reputation, partly by rigorously separating his public and private lives. Virginia Scharff breaks down that barrier to present an intriguing new portrait of this complex and influential figure, as seen through the lives of a remarkable group of women.

The Women Jefferson Loved tells the stories of Jefferson's wife Martha, his mistress Sally Hemings, and the children and grandchildren from each relationship, as well as his mother, Jane Randolph. These women represented different races, social classes and belief systems, but as a group are more representative of America as it really was than the America that was often portrayed in contemporary literature. The Women Jefferson Loved offers a welcome new look at a legendary American, along with a fresh twist on American history itself.

Virginia Scharff is professor of history and director of the Center for the Southwest at the University of New Mexico. Her scholarly publications include Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age and Present Tense: The United States Since 1945. She is also the author of four mystery novels, all written under the name of Virginia Swift: Brown-Eyed Girl, Bad Company, Bye, Bye, Love, and Hello, Stranger.

"It is not often that I spend a day reading a single book, but The Women Jefferson Loved is that gripping. Moving, brilliantly written and deeply sympathetic to everyone concerned, it is a wonder." -- Richard White, professor of history, Stanford University, and author of The Middle Ground