The Widow Washington

The Life of Mary Washington

By: Martha Saxton

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

The Widow Washington is the first life of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother, based on archival sources. Her son's biographers have, for the most part, painted her as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her oldest child.

But the records tell a very different story. Mary Ball, the daughter of a wealthy planter and a formerly indentured servant, was orphaned young and grew up working hard, practicing frugality and piety. Stepping into Virginia's upper class, she married an older man, the planter Augustine Washington, with whom she had five children before his death 11 years later. As a widow deprived of most of her late husband's properties, Mary struggled to raise her children, but managed to secure them places among Virginia's elite. In her later years, she and her wealthy son George had a contentious relationship, often disagreeing over money, with George dismissing as imaginary her fears of poverty and helplessness. Yet Mary Ball Washington had a greater impact on George than mothers of that time and place usually had on their sons.

Martha Saxton's The Widow Washington is a necessary and deeply insightful corrective, telling the story of Mary's long, arduous life on its own terms, and not treating her as her son's satellite.

©2019 Martha Saxton (P)2019 Tantor

New Understanding of Mary Washington

This was a book I had trouble putting down. I am fascinated with the life and times of Revolutionary War era people. My perception of who Mary Washington was changed after having listened to this book. This book will be reread multiple times for me. Excellent book and easy to listen to.

Judgement

My interest in this book comes from personal experience (I was a docent at the Mary Washington House in the early 2000s) and my ongoing interest in colonial times. Unfortunately, this book is just one long harangue on life in the earliest years of our country. I don’t mind a few observations, but every paragraph seemed to find fault. Definitely not worth my time and certainly not illuminating.

Too much speculation

Far too much speculation to make this any good. I was very excited to read the book and was completely disappointed. Would not recommend.