Cynthia A. Kierner, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, is author of Beyond the Household: Womenis Place in the Early South, 1700-1835 and Traders and Gentlefolk: The Livingstons of New York, 1675-1790.
Here's a scholarly book that artfully relates a riveting tale with lasting historical repercussions and significance. Readers will be drawn by the story of a strong woman who may have been wronged; the great Randolph family of Virginia torn asunder; the implication of members of Thomas Jefferson's circle; slaves' whispers fanning the flames of scandal; and eventual reconciliation of sorts.... [Kierner] reports with a colorist's deft touch and a fiction writer's delight while remaining faithful to scholarly conventions and trends.... This account analyzes part of the reality of Jefferson's Virginia in the nation's early years. Kierner makes us look at the world of the founders in all its messy complexity and humanity. oPublishers Weekly
Here's a scholarly book that artfully relates a riveting tale with lasting historical repercussions and significance. Readers will be drawn by the story of a strong woman who may have been wronged; the great Randolph family of Virginia torn asunder; the implication of members of Thomas Jefferson's circle; slaves' whispers fanning the flames of scandal; and eventual reconciliation of sorts.... [Kierner] reports with a colorist's deft touch and a fiction writer's delight while remaining faithful to scholarly conventions and trends.... This account analyzes part of the reality of Jefferson's Virginia in the nation's early years. Kierner makes us look at the world of the founders in all its messy complexity and humanity. oPublishers Weekly
What happened on the night of October 1, 1792, is the centerpiece of this social history of post-revolutionary Virginia planter society. Kierner (history, Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte) uses that night's event-an apparent case of infanticide-to open a window to the social, political, and cultural life of a society in transition. The rumor spread that Nancy Randolph of the prominent Randolph family of Virginia had a baby that night and that the father was her sister's husband and distant cousin, Richard Randolph. Although Nancy claimed that she had a miscarriage and that Richard's single brother Theo was the father, the rumors persisted. This story shows the crumbling of this society as even prominent families were openly criticized and challenged by working-class whites and slaves. She examines the important role played by slaves and how they used gossip as a form of social rebellion. Kierner follows the life of Nancy Randolph who ultimately led a full and successful life, marrying the prominent New Yorker Gouverneur Morris and raising their son. Well written and researched, this book is recommended for larger libraries and where there is interest in the post-revolutionary period.-Robert Flatley, Kutztown Univ., PA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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