Preview of Dolley Summary:

The subtitle of this book, "A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War" indicates several of the major themes treated in Brown in this work. The theme of history and the importance of writing history are strong concerns throughout, and dictate not only the factual framework of the novel, but also its form. The historian in this text is a woman — much of the historical background comes from the entries in Dolley's imagined journal — and a woman unique in her time who has almost unlimited access to the public and private sphere. The theme of marriage is once again explored here, but this time the portrait is a touching one. On the surface the Madisons' marriage is a partnership of a woman devoted to her husband and the causes for which he is fighting, and a hardworking politician fighting to keep the integrity of his...